Wellington County will soon have a green bin service which will allow organic waste to be added to the current curbside collection.
Wellington County Council approved the recommendation on Thursday and the new contract starts July 2020.
The contract ensures materials will be collected on both sides of all roads. Recyclables and organics will be collected weekly while user pay garbage will be collected every other week.
The collection vehicles will be a fleet of trucks fueled by compressed natural gas, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and improves air quality, with the added benefit of being quieter vehicles. The contract also Standardizes collection frequency for both urban and rural households. Seasonal leaf and yard waste collection will be provided in urban areas.
“The county is excited to bring a green bin organics collection programme to our residents,” said Warden Kelly Linton. “It is a forward-thinking service that aligns well with our Smart Cities goal to reduce and recover value from our food and organic waste.”
It is expected that the organics collection programme will divert 2,000 tonnes of food and organic waste from the County’s landfill site initially, and even more down the road. This will extend the life of the landfill site by approximately two years. This rate of diversion is expected to increase over time, leading to even further savings in landfill capacity.
“This new contract addresses the many long-term benefits of providing green bin collection and weekly collection service,” stated SWS Chair Gregg Davidson. “This level of service provides our residents with the tools they need to divert more material from our one and only landfill site while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from landfill and collection operations.”
SWS staff are working on the design of the new programme and will be providing participation information to residents starting in late 2019.
