WINNIPEG, MB - September 28, 2012 - Today marks the end of manual recycling and garbage collection as the City rolls out the new city-wide recycling and garbage collection services next week to the remaining 165,000 single-family properties.
Recycling and garbage carts will be emptied every week of the year and yard waste will be collected once every two weeks from April to November, on the same day of the week that recycling and garbage carts are emptied. The new services began on August 1, 2012, for about 24,000 residential properties formerly served by large metal shared community garbage bins (AutoBins).
By Sunday, September 30, 2012, each single-family home should have received:
- one 240-litre grey garbage cart (holds about the equivalent of three standard-size garbage bags),
- one 240-litre blue recycling cart (holds about the equivalent of four-standard size blue boxes),
- two complimentary compostable yard waste bags as a sample of the type of paper bag accepted in the program,
- a user guide with full program details, and
- a calendar highlighting all the garbage, recycling and yard waste collection days until the end of 2013.
Residents are advised the collection contractor may be on your street later than usual, but if your carts haven’t been emptied by dark, please take them back to your property until the next morning and contact 311.
The City will continue to offer the annual Christmas tree recycling depots (December 27 to January 20) and the seven year-round community recycling depots, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The seasonal yard waste depots (Leaf It With Us) are permanently closed since all single-family homes are now receiving convenient yard waste collection at the curb.
At the September 27, 2012 Council meeting, a motion was adopted by City Council to authorize the Standing Policy Committee on Public Works to maintain one or several Leaf It With Us Depots, within approved budgets, should paper bags for leaf composting not be available in Winnipeg.
The new services, part of a waste minimization strategy approved by City Council in October 2011, are designed to significantly boost Winnipeg’s low diversion rate by providing uniform and equitable garbage collection service for residents, together with more opportunities to reduce and recycle. With a current diversion rate of only 15 per cent (one of the lowest in Canada), it is expected that Winnipeggers could significantly reduce the amount of material that goes to our landfill by more than 50 per cent.
Residents can get information on Winnipeg’s new recycling and garbage services:
- by visiting winnipeg.ca/waterandwaste
- by contacting our 311 Centre, open 24 hours every day, by phone at 311 or by email at 311@winnipeg.ca
- by downloading the free My Waste app at winnipeg.ca/mywaste
Please see attached backgrounder for more information on Winnipeg’s new recycling and garbage services.