WATCH ABOVE: Changes are coming to how Halifax handles its curbside pick-up. The biggest change involves the types of bags you will soon be able to use for your garbage. Julia Wong has a breakdown of the adjustments you will have to make.
HALIFAX – A spokesperson for the municipality said she hopes residents are “clear” about changes to the solid waste policy, which come into effect Saturday.
Spokesperson Tiffany Chase said residents have been asking questions via Twitter and 311 about the impending changes, which include a switch from dark garbage bags to clear bags.
Starting Saturday, households will be allowed up to six clear bags or five clear bags plus a dark privacy bag.
“We just need to be able to see through any of the bags or materials that are in the clear bag to ensure that it actually is garbage,” Chase said.
“Really it’s just the change of a colour of the bag. Nothing has changed for what should be going into the garbage.”
Other changes include using kraft paper bags to hold leaf and yard waste; plastic orange bags will no longer be accepted. Box board, such as cereal boxes, will now be included with paper recycling, which is accepted in either a grocery or clear bag. Grass clippings will no longer be accepted.
Chase said the changes are important for the long-term success of the municipality’s landfill.
“We were looking for ways to increase capacity at our facilities. We know that material that’s arriving at the landfill still contains some recyclable or organic material and we want to make sure that gets recycled or processed at our compost plants,” she said.
She said it also makes financial sense, adding it costs approximately $170 per tonne for material to be processed at the landfill whereas it costs between $50 and $80 per tonne for material to be processed at the recycling or compost facility.
Preparations for Saturday
Hammonds Plains resident Gail Stronach expects the changes will require some small adjustments to how she prepares her garbage.
However, Stronach said she is ready for Saturday and even recently bought some clear plastic bags in preparation.
Likewise, resident Mary Ellen Shea said her family has been preparing for the impending changes for several weeks.
“We’ve been putting a clear plastic bag out the last two garbage pick-ups. The last two weeks, we’ve been already doing it,” she said.
Shea and her family have been reading up on the new policy and she said they feel prepared.
Shelley Glover, the owner of Redmond’s Home Hardware in Upper Tantallon, said customers have been streaming in the last few days and stocking up on bags.
“The past three days … there’s been a lot of people coming in, asking and purchasing the bags,” she said.
“Up until then I don’t think people worried too much about it. Now the crunch is on so they’re preparing.”
Clear bags that include recyclable or compostable materials will be left behind at the curb with a rejection notice. Once the bag is re-sorted, it can be left out at the next collection date. Grocery bags put into garbage cans will be counted as one privacy bag.
The municipality released an app Monday with the aim of helping people determine which bins are meant for which products. Chase said the app costs $14,000 a year; the city has a three-year contract for the app. It is available on smartphones or can be accessed at the following link.
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