It’s your turn: changes to garbage bag rules go to public hearing today
Posted Mar 8, 2011 05:45:18 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Residents will have their chance to weigh in on proposed changes to the city’s garbage bylaw at a public hearing tonight.
City staff are proposing amending the trash collection bylaw to reduce the number of bags allowed for curbside pickup from six to four and requiring three of those to be clear.
The hope is that increasing visibility will encourage more people to keep compostables and recyclables out of the regular trash.
HRM’s solid waste manager says that although the changes already have some people upset, it’s important to remember they’ll be phased in gradually.
“I think the biggest challenge that people are facing is that they feel like as soon as we do this, their garbage is going to stop being collected, or it’s going be rejected,” said Gord Helm. “That is really the message that I’ve been trying to correct for a long time now.”
A staff report says the city could save millions in sorting fees if fewer compostables and recyclables make it into the landfills. The report also notes that compliance improved the last time the curbside bag limit was cut from 10 bags to 6.
But Kevin Lacey, Atlantic director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, calls the proposed amendments a “nanny state nightmare.”
“This means a reduction in service and the taxpayer’s not getting any break in cost,” he said. “Taxpayers are fed up with paying more and more in taxes each year and getting less and less from the city.”
Lacey says the city could probably achieve improved compliance simply by teaching people how to sort their trash.
The public hearing begins this evening at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
