Posted:
Monday, July 6, 2015 (Halifax, NS) – Upcoming changes to residential waste collection will have a significant, positive impact on the environment and reduce what is sent to the landfill. Earlier this year Regional Council approved amendments to By-law S-600, respecting Solid Waste Resource Collection and Disposal, in an effort to increase diversion of recyclable and organic material from the landfill by encouraging residents to improve their source separation. The changes being implemented as of August 1, 2015, include: • Clear bags are required for garbage. One dark privacy bag is allowed each collection, all remaining bags must be clear. • Excess leaf and yard waste must be in kraft paper bags. Plastic bags will not be accepted. • Boxboard will now go in the paper recycling, though it can still be used to contain wet food scraps in the green cart. • Grass clippings will no longer be collected curbside. Residents should backyard compost their clippings or “grasscycle” by leaving clippings on the lawn after mowing. Grasscycling returns nutrients to the lawn, not to mention it saves time, energy and money otherwise spent on bagging. For more information and tips visit www.halifax.ca/grasscycling.
Beginning this week, during scheduled collection, educational stickers will be affixed to green carts along with sample packs of clear garbage and blue recycling bags which have been donated by Glad. The stickers highlight the new program requirements beginning August 1 and encourage residents to visit www.halifax.ca/clear for prize opportunities and more information on the changes to the residential solid waste program.
Non-compliant bags will be tagged with a rejection sticker and residents will be responsible for properly sorting and bagging the waste material for their next regularly scheduled collection day.
Halifax has become a global leader in solid waste management but there is still room for improvement. Waste audits conducted in 2013 found that over 30 per cent of items in residential garbage bags arriving at the landfill should have been composted or recycled. Clear bag programs in other municipalities have resulted in decreased amounts of recyclable and organic material being sent to landfill. Recycling more of our waste material will benefit the local environment and economy, reduce the amount of taxpayers’ dollars required to construct new landfill cells, as well as foster conservation and public stewardship of the solid waste program. The Solid Waste division has education staff available to speak to residents, review their current waste management practices and provide advice on how to follow the new rules.
Visit www.halifax.ca/clear, email wasteless@halifax.ca or call 311 for more information or to arrange a session with staff.
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