One bag only
As of yesterday (today for us because Tuesday is our pick-up day), the City of Hamilton will begin enforcing a one-container limit. We barely collect a full white kitchen catcher each week and only have more if the scent is exceptionally potent from meat packaging mid-week (and even then, it’s only the plastic wrap and blood catcher thingy because the styrofoam I was and recycle).
According to this weekend’s edition of the Flamborough Review, a survey conducted by the city last year found about 9 per cent of households put out two containers, 4 per cent put out three containers and nearly 2 per cent of residents put out four or more containers of waste. That leaves about 85 per cent of Hamilton homeowners already put out one container. According to the City of Hamilton’s website: a container is defined as either a non-returnable plastic garbage bag weighing not more than 23 kilograms OR a rigid reusable container with a volume of less than 135 litres, weighing not more than 23 kilograms. The only exceptions are the first pick up after a stat holiday and a special consideration policy. The latter is available for households with someone who has a medical condition, if there are three children or more under the age of five in one household, registered home day cares or agricultural businesses.
For the last year, residents have been allowed to put out two containers, but one of them had to be a clear container under the city’s 1 + 1 program adopted by council two years ago. The one-container limit had been part of the city’s goal to achieve a 65 per cent waste diversion rate in Hamilton by 2011. I got a kick out of the enforcement tactic for the new implementation plan: “they will be placing yellow stickers on any extra containers as a reminder to homeowners” just incase you forgot you can only have one container. Love that!
Typical of Hamilton, in 2001, the 25-year solid waste master plan recommended a 65 per cent diversion rate by 2008. Hamilton’s aggressive diversion rate was an attempt to extend the life of the city’s Glanbrook landfill site past 2020. In 2007, waste management officials revealed the city wasn’t going to make it and pushed the timelines ahead to 2011. Waste staff informed councillors last November (i.e. 2009) the city wasn’t going to meet that goal either. The city’s diversion rate is only 42 per cent. Apparently, the challenge has been (and likely will continue to be) getting more businesses involved in recycling and composting their waste.
The basis of this post is an article published in the Flamborough Review “One-container residential limit starts April 5: City staff expect homeowners will have no problem managing waste” written by Kevin Werner, Metroland West Media Group.
