Arsons sparks changes to garbage days

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/09/2017 (2984 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Almost two-thirds of Winnipeg households will get a new garbage and waste collection day in October.

The switch to two new collection contractors prompted the change, effective Oct. 2, the city said Friday, noting 59 per cent of households will be impacted.

Homeowners will be sent notices in the mail informing them of their new collection day. (Residents can also check the My Waste app or the city’s website at wfp.to/collectionday.)

The contract with the city’s current garbage and recyclables contractors, Emterra Environmental and Progressive Waste Services, expires Sept. 30.

The work was put up for tender last year and awarded to two firms on a seven-year, three-month contract: GFL Environmental Inc. and Miller Waste Systems Inc. Contracts with both firms run from Oct. 1, 2017, to Jan. 31, 2025.

The collection areas will be halved from four zones to two zones, each serviced by one of the contractors.

Coun. Brian Mayes, chairman of council’s environment committee, said one of the factors for changing collection days is an attempt to minimize arson problems in the inner city. Currently, garbage and recyclable collection in inner-city neighbourhoods is on Monday, but those areas are being switched to Thursday and Friday.

Monday collection days had been singled out by Winnipeg police, fire and politicians as one of the contributing factors to an arson problem in those areas, as garbage was being left in back lanes over the weekend, a period with the highest threat level for deliberately set fires.

Changing the collection days for the inner city was applauded by Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth.

“That was something that was identified several years ago,” he told reporters Friday.

The main reason for switching collection days, however, is the creation of two large zones served by two different contractors, Mayes said. Currently, Emterra doesn’t do Monday collections east of the Red River, which is essentially the dividing line between the two zones.

With two separate contractors, Mayes said, Monday collections will be more common east of the Red.

Additionally, he said new schedules were drawn up to create a better balance between the back-lane and front-street pickup, as back-lane collection requires more time.

There could be more changes than just the pickup days: the new contracts have a combined annual cost of $24.7 million, substantially more than the $18 million annually it had been costing city hall. It’s not certain how the city will pay for the additional cost.

Coun. Scott Gillingham, chairman of council’s finance committee, said the financial implications of the new contracts will be resolved through the 2018 budget deliberations.

Garbage collection is paid through property tax, while the cost of the recyclables and yard-waste pickup is covered through the $56 annual waste-diversion fee charged to all homeowners.

The city could justify an increase in property taxes in 2018 in order to offset the increased contract cost, or assign part of the increase to a higher amount charged to the annual waste-diversion fee.

Winnipeg is currently divided into four zones for collection of waste, recyclables, and yard waste. Emterra does the bulk of it, with a contract for three zones; Progressive Waste Solutions has the contract for the northwest quadrant.

Under the new contracts, the city will be divided into two areas, creating a more even split between GFL and Miller.

While Emterra submitted a bid on the new contracts, it was not successful.

GFL was the lowest bidder out of four bids submitted for the two new zones, however, the administration was directed to not give the two contracts to the same company.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca