.png;w=960)
North Bay City Council has unanimously adopted changes to the waste diversion strategy for the City of North Bay that will lower the limit of the curbside collection of waste (without bag tags) to two bags and/or receptacles from the current limit of three, effective Jan. 1, 2022.
Tags for extra bags beyond the new limit will also double in price to $2 the first of the year. The industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) sectors will see their limits drop from 12 to 10 receptacles.
A public education and social media plan will be introduced this fall in advance of the service level changes.
"I've had a lot of good comments on this. I think it's overdue in the community," observed Coun. Chris Mayne, Chair of Council's infrastructure and operations committee. "Once it eventually does roll out, if anyone has any concerns or if we encounter any extenuating circumstances, we're always going to be sympathetic to overcoming issues as they present themselves. We're hoping to have our first follow-up report at the end of June next year as to how the program has progressed."
That report will likely be generated by Karin Pratte, the City's senior environment and facilities engineer, who has become the public face of this initiative and another by the City to take over operations at the Merrick Landfill.
In an August committee meeting, Pratte advised the updated strategy is "not a loss of service," but rather "a new way of thinking about your waste." She later offered, "Instead of putting three receptacles at the curb, divert more waste...that's the message."
During that meeting, Pratte also highlighted some potential waste diversion strategies the department has identified for future years, including a local mattress drop-off; a ban on recyclable materials in both curbside garbage and waste dropped off at the landfill; the use of clear bags; a wood reuse area; and, leaf and yard waste curbside collection.
See related: Trash talk expected in tonight's committee meeting
Coun. Mark King raised an issue with the new policy when it comes to larger families. He said he had been contacted by a family with two adults and four children with small pets living under one roof who "would find it extremely difficult to meet the requirements. I think it's important to understand how unfair this issue is," although King shared this family made an arrangement to put out their garbage at a neighbour's who did not use their full allotment.
"There are some large families who will have to change their habits," noted King.
According to the City of North Bay's definition, one standard receptacle can include several bags of garbage: "Extra bags/receptacles can have a maximum weight of 15 kilograms, or 35 pounds and receptacles cannot be larger than 150 litres, or 33 gallons. The City will collect three extra garbage bags/receptacles per household as long as they have a bag tag."
Pratte has often said the true value of the entire waste diversion strategy is measured in extending the years of the life of the Merrick Landfill. Residential waste audits have shown 30-40 per cent of the materials were divertable from the landfill.
"This is a concern," according to Pratte. "This program is really intended to reduce that number, to encourage individuals to refrain from putting materials in the waste stream that are divertable and can be in a different stream, such as reuse — as with textiles — or the recycling stream."
Deputy Mayor Tanya Vrebosch shared she had received several emails in support of the program. "We're not the first community to go through this, in fact, in the north, we're one of the last communities," to lower curbside waste limits. "There are people with challenges...I'm hoping, with staff, we're able to have that open dialogue with citizens that have concerns and we can work with them to find solutions."
Several councillors relayed citizens had questions about a municipal composting program.
Coun. Mac Bain noted the cost of such an organics program without provincial assistance would cost between $2–3 million to get up and running — plus approximately the same amount again in yearly operational costs.
"There is currently no program that would help us subsidize the operating costs," advised Bain. "So, it is strictly economics, we just don't have the financial resources to run an organics program...If you purchase a backyard composter and you compost correctly," he emphasized, "you don't attract the critters," that can plague community composts.
