Feedback from the community has prompted to the City to direct waste collectors to use their discretion in applying the one bag limit.

In June, the two month grace period for residents to adjust to the one garbage bag limit ended, and the City's contractors began enforcing the limit. Susan Grimm, Waste and Recycling Manager with the City, said at that point, they began hearing complaints from residents who felt they were following the new bylaw but still weren't seeing all their garbage collected.

Residents that use a garbage bin to leave their waste out on collection day said that they were putting out the equivalent of the amount of waste allowed under the new bylaw, but in multiple bags within the bin. On garbage day, collectors would only take one bag and leave the rest. Grimm says they are now directing their contractors that the "one bag limit" does not necessarily mean a literal single bag.

"As we take a step back, and sometimes we have to do that, we realized that really there's no harm on cutting back on the restrictions and letting people, provided that their garbage still fits within the size and the weight restrictions, to have multiple bags within a can and still be collected."

Grimm said that residents that use a can still need to make sure that all of their garbage is bagged, which has long been the City's policy.

"That's always been the case, even in our bylaw from 1992. Loose garbage was never permitted. The reason for that is because it's a manual collection, if they're pulling out bags or tipping a garbage can, there's a really big potential for stuff to blow all over the place."

Grimm said that the current waste and recycling bylaw will remain in effect, and no formal amendments are being made.

"The bylaw is not changing, we are just working with our contractors to relax the requirements that we've put in place."

 

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