Garbage debate at City Hall yields some changes, some deferrals
Posted Jan 14, 2014 03:18:57 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Changes are coming to the way some of your waste is collected in HRM.
Local politicians began debating and voting Tuesday on nine recommendations from staff about waste management and the future of the Otter Lake landfill.
One issue that has raised a lot of interest is the suggestion to force citizens to use clear bags, with an allowance for one opaque bag inside.
“It essentially will enable residents to put their bag that they line the garbage can in their washrooms into their kitchen, major waste recepticle bag,” explained a staffer. “So you will see a Sobey’s bag a or a white plastic Kitchen Catcher bag or whatever that they’ve used to line their bathroom. That’s been the experience in the jurisdictions that have employed this.”
That idea, along with a proposal to lower the bag limit from six down to four, has been referred to public consultations.
Some changes were passed by a vote — including banning grass clippings from collection and mandating the use of kraft paper bags for leaf and yard waste. Boxboard will no longer be a mandated green bin product, but will still be permitted as a kitchen scrap material catcher.
Debate on contentious recommendations surrounding the Otter Lake landfill, and the export of some waste out of HRM, were deferred to future debate at Committee of the Whole.
One of those recommendations is to extend operations at Otter Lake beyond 2024 and direct staff to increase the vertical height of existing and future cells by 15 meters.
Another deferred recommendation would have the city amend By-law S-600 to allow for the export of industrial, commercial and institutional residual waste outside HRM, and increase fees for disposal of ICI residual waste from $125 per tonne to the assessed system cost of $170.00 per tonne, which is what it costs the city.
