The City of Saint John will roll out its new solid waste collection this fall.
However, the ‘Waste Wise’ program has been updated to address access and affordability concerns.
The plan includes:
- City staff distributing 180L refuse cart to most households that currently receive curbside garbage pickup service
- For garbage that does not fit in the refuse cart the city will implement a ‘Garbage Bag Tag’ system, set at $2 per bag
- All households issued two 80L recycling totes, one for paper/cardboard, and the other for plastic/metal
- Curbside compost is an existing service that will continue to be offered under the new program
- A bulky items pick-up service is also offered to all customers, by appointment by contacting Customer Service
On Monday, Tim O’Reilly, director of public works and transportation provided the latest update to the ‘Waste Wise’ model during a common council meeting.
O’Reilly mentioned that city staff recognize the collection of garbage in issued carts in some dense parts of the city simply will not work because residents do not have curbside access.
“In these neighbourhoods we intend to allow households to continue to dispose of garbage in bags with a different type of bag tag solution, which we are going to call ‘Urban Bag Tags’ which will be issued at no charge and will need to be placed at the curbs along with the bags, this solution will ensure fairness with the rest of the community while addressing the logistical challenges in these very dense neighbourhoods.”
A city staff report outlines that The Old North End, Waterloo Village, and South Central Peninsula are the three areas identified.
“These neighborhoods typically have limited and/or no access to backyards, alleyways, or property frontage that would be required to store carts, compounded by the fact that many of these households are multi-unit,” reads the city staff report.
The report also identifies that city staff is aware that some households may not be able to afford garbage bag tags.
“We know some households may simply not be able to afford the $2 bag tags in situations where they produce more waste that can’t be recycled, composted, or fit in the garbage cart,” mentioned O’Reilly.
With that in mind, city staff has developed a six-month pilot program to address households who cannot afford bag tags.
“City staff has since worked with various community centres, and we have developed a six-month pilot program where a limited number of bag tags will be issued to households in financial need at no charge,” said O’Reilly.
“Five different community centres that serve our neighbourhoods have stepped up and confirmed that they will help us out with this, the Carleton Community Centre, One Change, Waterloo Village, Pulse, and the YMCA Fieldhouse,” continued O’Reilly.
Households in financial need will be allowed a maximum of two tags per household per visit, with a maximum of one visit per month, and a maximum of 10 tags per six-month period of the pilot program.
The city will allow some flexibility in the amount of garbage all households can put at no charge during the spring and holiday season.
“As we know there are higher spikes in how much garbage is put out during those seasons,” added O’Reilly.
City staff is currently planning to roll out the ‘Waste Wise’ program on October 23, 2022.
