Green Bins, Clear Bags and Garbage Collection Plan in The City of Peterborough
/With the start of the weekly Green Bin program for household organic waste collection on Oct. 31, the City of Peterborough will at the same time shift to every-other-week garbage collection and requiring the use of clear bags for curbside garbage collection.
photo courtesy of the city of peterborough.
City Council approved the waste management service changes as part of the Waste Management Master Plan Update on Feb. 27.
Collection for household organic waste (Green Bin program) and recycling (Blue Bin program) will be provided weekly, which will greatly reduce the amount of waste that goes into the garbage. Garbage amounts are expected to reduce by between 40 per cent and 50 per cent, which will allow garbage collection to shift to an every-other-week schedule that is common in other communities that have Green Bin programs.
The use of clear bags for garbage will support waste diversion efforts and improve worker safety for garbage collectors by helping to avoid incidents with sharp objects in garbage bags.
Together, the waste management service changes are expected to bolster the community’s waste diversion rate from about 52 per cent currently to between 76 per cent and 83 per cent by 2030. Increasing the waste diversion rate to 75 per cent will add another five to six years of life to the landfill.
Public education and awareness activities will be taking place over the next eight months leading up to the start of the Green Bin program and the other changes for waste management services.
Information on how to participate will be shared through local television, radio, newspaper, and online media sources as well as on the City website at peterborough.ca/ReduceWaste. Program education resources will include pamphlets, a waste management calendar, a what’s-in-what’s-out sheet that details what organic waste can go in the Green Bin, and other helpful resources, including the City’s waste management app “City Waste“ that features a collection calendar and a tool for what goes where when you sorting garbage, recyclables and, beginning Oct. 31, organic waste.
To kick off the program, informational material will be distributed along with Green Bins to all eligible properties starting in September.
The Downtown Business Improvement Area, apartment buildings, and private road serviced developments are not included in this phase of the program implementation.
Green Bin program
As part of the launch of the Green Bin program, a Green Bin for curbside collection and a smaller container for use in the kitchen will be delivered to all eligible households. The program is being rolled out to most residential properties, except for multi-residential and condominium properties that receive private waste collection services.
The Green Bin for curbside collection is a heavy-duty pest-proof cart with a locking mechanism on the lid.
Delivery of Green Bins to eligible properties will begin in September and is expected to be completed by mid-October. After receiving their Green Bins, residents are encouraged to wait until about Oct. 20 before starting to use them to store food waste for collection.
Weekly curbside Green Bin collection will start Oct. 31.
About 40 per cent to 50 per cent of current garbage material is organic waste that will be diverted from the garbage stream with the introduction of organic waste collection.
Every-other-week garbage collection
Taking out 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the current garbage generated by households and diverting it to the new weekly Green Bin program starting Oct. 31 will mean garbage collection can shift to an every-other-week schedule.
Along with being less garbage, the waste that remains in the garbage stream for collection will no longer include the food waste and pet waste – removing most of the smelly materials from the garbage can.
Every-other-week garbage collection is common in communities that have Green Bin programs, such as:
Barrie
Durham
Guelph
Niagara Region
Ottawa
Peel
Simcoe County
Toronto
Waterloo
