Council for the Town of Vermilion passed a motion giving the green light to a new Recycling Curbside Collection Program at a meeting on November 1.
Council accepted the proposal from Quik Pick Waste Disposal for a bi-weekly blue bag recycling curbside collection for a three-year contract with an option to extend, as their disposal was deemed ‘most advantageous for the Town of Vermilion mainly due to the lack of processing cost implemented by their company.’
Three contractor proposals were submitted for both options - the blue bag or a 95-gallon blue bin that would be available to each resident. Included in the proposals was an option for commercial businesses that would like to participate in the program.
Council discussed the pros and cons regarding the blue bag versus the bins. One of the cons identified was that rodents could access the blue bags if food or waste is left on them as well as there is an additional cost for the resident purchasing the blue bags.
On the blue bin option, the only downfall noted was residents having up to three bins at their household for storage - one for waste, one for organics and one for recycling. The cost of the blue bin was more expensive than the blue bag option on the resident’s monthly recycling bill.
Director for Transportation and Utilities Derek Young said starting in January everyone will be using the blue bag for recycling.
Overall, the prices were favourable for the pickup and processing of residential and commercial recycling. The prices range from $2.12/month to $4.00/month on the residential side for the blue bag. Council selected the blue bag option method of recycling for the curbside collection of recyclables.
“Homeowners will have to have a blue bag and set it out on the identified date,” explained Young.
“Right now there are large dumpsters for cardboard at commercial locations throughout town; we are aiming to keep those, and every resident will have a blue bag, which will be purchased at grocery stores.
Next year we will be implementing curbside collection for garbage and organics. We will then take all the dumpsters out of the allies, so going forward everyone in town will have the roll out garbage bins.
We are targeting that the changeover will take place in August 2017. The new bins will be provided by the Town of Vermilion, and they will be free of charge. The green bin will be used for organics; the black bin will be for garbage, and the blue bag will be used for recycling.
The primary focus is to encourage recycling and keep garbage out of the landfill. There will also be another component of developing a program to make the public aware of these changes, and there will be a lot more information coming from the Town about the changeover.
Vermilion is behind a little on recycling, and the model is definitely not new. More information will be provided for residents before January, and there will be notices sent out,” explained Young.