Surrey is repositioning itself as a more environmentally friendly city with its new garbage and recycling program, set to begin this October.

The city will begin collecting combined kitchen and yard waste in a new organics cart, separating organic waste from garbage. By 2015, organic waste will be completely banned from landfills.

Not only will the type of residential waste bins change, but the kind of truck picking up from your properties will change as well.

What the city calls "state-of-theart automated Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks" will do the neighbourhood rounds, in partnership with BFI Canada, a waste management company under Progressive Waste Solutions.

Statistics on the City of Surrey's website say compared to a regular diesel truck, these new vehicles emit 23 per cent less carbon emissions and 90 per cent less air particulates.

The city further states that studies show through replacing one diesel truck with a CNG truck, this is equivalent to taking 475 cars off the road each year.

These changes by Surrey contribute to similar projects throughout the province, which prompted British Columbia's top finish along with Ontario for sustainable living, as ranked by environmental magazine Corporate Knights in its 2012 Green Provinces Report.

Full information on the new City of Surrey initiative, including a comprehensive video, can be found online at surrey.ca/city-services.