LETTER

New garbage limits?

 

I am supportive of putting less waste in our landfill, but I have been unable to get my head around the announcement that our waste collection will be limited to 120 litres every two weeks. Perhaps as we get closer to July, the city will explain the system, as we move to a unit-based price system of garbage collection.

In need of a new garbage bin last year, I bought a bin the same size as the blue one the city provides for recycling. Although it has never been full,  city workers only have to wheel it to the truck and the machine unloads it. My problem, come July, is that the bin is more than 300 litres in size, so unless the machine weighs the amount of waste inside, that bin is out. Will the city issue 120-litre bins to everyone?

If someone has extra waste, how much will it cost? Are we going to be charged per bag in excess of 120 litres?

When we started the compost program, we were entitled to get a little bit of our investment in composting by picking up the soil created at the end of the year. Now the city sells it to some entity. If this new program is designed to keep food waste out of garbage, is it possible people can be rewarded for this by once again being able to secure some of the soil we helped to create by composting?

Finally, what is the plan for the increase in illegal dumping? With very little trouble, I found two instances where this was a problem in other localities; one in Korea and another in Virginia. In Virginia, 28% of the reduction of collected waste was attributed to illegal dumping of waste. I would like to be assured that all of the consequences of the new regime have been considered and incorporated into its launch.                          

Michael P. MacDonald
Aylmer