The City of Steinbach is now offering free compost.

Eldon Wallman is the city's Solid Waste Manager. He says this is the first time in a year and a half that they have been able to offer compost to residents. Wallman notes that is because the weather last year was not in their favour.

"It has to be dry for us to screen it properly," he explains. "And anytime it came the right time to do the screening so that we could filter out all the bad stuff and give a good product to the public it just didn't work out, it rained or it snowed. It just didn't cooperate with us."

He notes the warm and dry conditions this year made it possible to do the screening and now they have a product that is ready to be given away. 

The compost is free of charge and available for pickup at the landfill, in the same spot it has been in years past. Pick up is allowed during regular operating hours. Wallman notes the compost is the end result of what gets collected at compost depots in Steinbach or is dropped off at the landfill. He says it is available now for any residents of Steinbach or surrounding municipalities. 

He says if you want to get in on the action, all you have to do is come to the landfill with a shovel and small trailer or some form of container to scoop it into. Landfill employees are not there to assist in the process. 

"We don't load it," he says. "If we started doing that, we'd have to load it for everyone, and I'd have to hire another person to do that because it gets quite busy."

According to Wallman, the pile of compost that is ready to be given away is the largest in their history. And, he says that is after the city's beautification department has already taken a good chunk to use for its beautification and tree planting projects. 

"It was a pretty substantial pile this year, so it was good," he adds.

Meanwhile, Wallman says there are compost windrows in all different stages currently at the landfill. He notes there are probably some additional piles that are nearly ready to be screened, though that will likely not happen before fall.