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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Garbage changeover rocky
City trying to clear up confusion about when residents should use automated carts
Map shows the fixed collection days in various areas.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Winnipeg's solid-waste manager Darryl Drohomerski explains the new automated-cart garbage pickup. (MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store
The surge of trash from autobins is nearly gone, but Winnipeg is now trying to stem confusion over when residents start to use their new automated garbage and recycling carts.
Two weeks ago, the city started to remove 5,800 autobins in areas west of the Red River as part of the shift to a new waste-collection service. On Aug. 1, residents in the former autobin areas started to use their new garbage and recycling carts, which will be emptied on a set day of the week. Elsewhere in Winnipeg, residents won't start using the cart system until Oct. 1.
The changeover has sparked confusion over who should put out their automated garbage and recycling carts.
On Tuesday, City of Winnipeg solid-waste manager Darryl Drohomerski said some city residents who have already received their carts but do not live in the former autobin areas have mistakenly put the carts out on the street for garbage pickup. The city started to deliver the new carts to northwest Winnipeg neighbourhoods in June and is working clockwise to deliver them to all areas by the end of September.
Though every cart comes with a user guide and a sticker that inform people when they will switch to the new collection service, Drohomerski said some Winnipeggers are still unsure about when to put their cart at the curb. He said residents in former autobin areas should no longer use the autobin and their blue box, and exclusively use their black-and-blue garbage and recycling carts.
Residents in other parts of the city should not use their cart until Oct. 1, Drohomerski said, even if their carts have been delivered.
In the last two weeks, Winnipeg's solid-waste department received 10,462 calls through the city's 311 hotline -- up from 6,849 from the previous two weeks. City officials said there has been a noticeable increase, but not all the additional calls may be related to garbage and recycling collection.
"Every time you have a collection changeover, you always have little anomalies you should expect, and this is no different," Drohomerski said.
Winnipeg saw the amount of trash in the autobin areas nearly double in recent weeks after residents and illegal dumpers rushed to get rid of unwanted bulky items before the city removed autobins for good.
City officials said they typically see that much garbage during the year-end Christmastime peak only, and many autobins were overflowing with rotting garbage and bulk waste.
There was so much trash, garbage collection that normally took one day took three days to complete.
Drohomerski said crews worked during the long weekend to empty the bins and have nearly caught up with the unexpected spike in garbage. He said the city hopes to have the last 2,300 autobins off Winnipeg streets by early next week, and some neighbourhoods such as Point Douglas have already had all their autobins removed.
The city has also received calls from residents who think the city is sending recyclables to its landfill.
Emterra is currently using old recycling trucks to pick up garbage, and the same truck returns later to collect recyclables.
Drohomerski said residents should rest assured all garbage goes to the landfill and all recyclables go to a processing facility.
"We're using the same truck twice," he explained.
10,462
The number of calls Winnipeg's solid-waste department received through the city's 311 hotline in the last two weeks
6,849
The number of 311 calls the department received the previous two weeks
5,800
The number of autobins the city started to remove two weeks ago in areas west of the Red River
2,300
The number of remaining autobins the city hopes to have removed by early next week
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 8, 2012 B1
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