Airdrie residents may soon be able to take advantage of an indoor organic compost facility west of the city.

The City of Airdrie and Rocky View County are planning an open house in September to discuss the possibility of the facility at Airdrie’s Waste Transfer Site, on Highway 567.

Rocky View County council held a public hearing on July 24 to discuss development of an in-vessel organic waste-composting system that would be the second of its kind in Canada.

If approved, the facility would break down residential and commercial food waste plus other organic material, such as leaves and grass clippings. They would then be blended together before being deposited into a 20-foot shipping container at a rate of 20 metric tonnes at a time.

A fan would then circulate air through the container, accelerating the breakdown of the organic material and cutting the volume in half, and converting the mixture into Class A compost material.

Airdrie's Manager of Waste and Recycling, Kathleen Muretti says the City has been in talks with a company that has an in-vessel compost system, and explains its features.

Roughly five per cent of the waste material will come from the City’s recently announced residential curbside organics pilot program, slated to start next year. The communities of Canals and Waterstone will witness it first before the program spreads throughout the city in 2014.

Currently, the City pays $98 per tonne to dispose its organic waste at a Calgary landfill. Diverting waste disposal to the proposed Airdrie facility would reduce the cost by up to $40 per tonne. With an annual average of 7,963 tonnes of waste collected from Airdrie residences, the potential to divert up to 60 per cent of that amount to the new facility would mean savings of up to $190,800.

Businesses, restaurants and grocery stores, both in Airdrie and Rocky View, will use the new facility.

Rocky View County council have postponed making a decision on moving forward with the plan until the public open house can be held.

Muretti mentions a proposal presented aims to redesignate some land at the transfer site to accommodate the composting facility.

After all the details have been covered, Muretti estimated the facility could be operating in perhaps eight months.