It has taken three years to get here, but Sant Joan City Council is in the process of implementing a new garbage collection system.
If all goes according to plan, the Saint Johners will no longer have to fix recyclable material in blue bin dumps after October 23rd.
Deposits will be canceled when the new system goes live.
In order to reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill, the city will also limit each home to a 180-liter bin full of rubbish every two weeks.
Tim O’Reilly, the city’s transportation commissioner, says the program will pay for itself in eight to nine years. (Joseph Tunney / CBC)
Tim O’Reilly, the city’s transportation commissioner, says the containers contain “just over two large garbage bags.”
Plus, you’ll need to buy labels for extra trash bags.
O’Reilly said the change will have its challenges, but a pilot project has shown that the model works well.
“The overwhelming response was positive with this new model and certainly some specific comments that we took into account as part of this [rollout]. “
You need to know
As of Sept. 12, the city will begin delivering trash cans and recycling bins to homes, including buildings with four or fewer apartments.
Larger apartment buildings are considered commercial operations and are responsible for contracting private garbage collection.
Delivery is expected to be completed on October 16, one week before the program launches.
Garbage collection will be done every two weeks, with composting collection in alternate weeks. Recycling will be picked up the night before the garbage collection or composting schedule in a neighborhood.
Bag tags will cost $ 2 each and will also be needed for items that are too large to fit in the trash can, a small appliance such as a vacuum cleaner, for example.
O’Reilly said the city is working on agreements to allow people to buy labels in places in the city.
The Sant Joan blue container depots will be out of service in October. (Sarah Kester / CBC)
“We will have some in the town hall, [and] eight different locations spread across the city. We are now in the process of establishing these agreements with different convenience stores, etc., to provide a convenient place for people to buy them, ”he said.
The city also plans to create a pilot project that would allow eligible households to obtain a limited number of labels for free if needed.
Exemptions
Some areas will be exempt from using rubbish bins. The far south, the Old North End and Waterloo Village will continue to put rubbish on the sidewalk in bags, but limited to one bag per week, with a maximum of 80 liters.
These areas will continue with weekly garbage collection.
According to documents submitted to the city council last week, “these neighborhoods often have limited and / or no access to the backyards, streets or facades of property that would be needed to store cars, in addition to the fact that many of these homes they are multiunit “.
Homes in these areas will receive special labels to place on the sidewalk trash.
(City of San Juan)
The city will allow households to place unlabeled garbage bags for collection twice a year for seasonal events such as the Christmas holidays or spring cleaning.
Some neighborhoods will see changes to their pickup day as the city is reviewing routes to ensure schedules are as efficient as possible.
This information will be available closer to the release date.
Implementing the new system will cost the city about $ 3 million, but O’Reilly said he will recoup those costs over time with the planned savings in tipping costs.
“We’re estimating an eight- or nine-year payback period for this initial investment,” he said. “And again, the biggest benefit is, you know, it’s much less costly for the environment and our landfill to process recycling and composting and garbage. So getting people to use them more will save taxpayers in the long run. time limit”.