Colour me clear

BY SARA KEDDY

Kings County Register

Frozen juice tins?

Garbage.

Milk cartons?

Garbage, unless you cut out the plastic spout, then the carton’s recyclable.

Plastics?

All rigid plastics are recyclable here in the Valley.

Fast food coffee cups?

Garbage; the lids, too – unless you wash them. Then they’re recyclable.

None of that, though, is any different from Valley Waste’s sorting system over the past few years. The only thing changing April 1 is the colour of the bags we’re supposed to put it all in.

“People seem to be getting it,” says Andrea Gibson-Garrett, Valley Waste’s residential co=ordinator.

She and co-workers have spent the past six months getting ready for the April 1 changeover to clear bags for garbage, and back to blue bags for recyclables. Compost collection stays the same, in the green roadside carts.

“We’ll get through it, and it’s been easier than we thought – so far,” says Andrew Garrett, the commercial co-ordinator.

They’ve been on the road from one end of the Valley to the other, making presentations to all kinds of groups, businesses and municipal units on the changes – and why they’re happening now.

“It’s time,” Garrett says. In 2000, Valley Waste had a 50-plus-per cent diversion rate. In the last few years, though, that’s dropped to 40 per cent.

“We have to get that back up,” Garrett says, for a number of reasons.

First would be the environmental cost of sending materials that don’t need to be landfilled to be buried. And, that costs. Municipal units forward a large chunk of their tax collections to cover Valley Waste operations. As well, the province recently set a goal of 60 per cent diversion by 2015.

“That’s definitely attainable,” says Garrett.

In their recent presentations, they’ve found people are fine with the colour changes of the bags – “More of them want reassurance they’re doing the right thing,” Garrett-Gibson says.

While the education has gone well, Valley Waste has also beefed up its bylaws on the enforcement side of things. There have always been fines in place to set against people not following the system’s waste sorting requirements; with a new set of approved bylaws this spring, the authority can now issue summary offence tickets with penalties from $215 to $1,600. There will be extra inspectors at the waste sorting stations in Kentville and Lawrencetown and extra information officers through the summer to help give out tips to residents and businesses who have any questions. Valley Waste will also add telephone staff through April to answer any increase in phone questions.

By July, staff are sure people will have the hang of the changes.

“Once they realize it’s just the colour of the bag, they calm down,” Garrett says.

WEBLINKS:

vwrm.com

SIDEBAR:

Headline: Clear guide to throwin’ it out

Garbage

No more than four bags per collection, in CLEAR bags.

One of those four bags can be SOLID – your privacy bag.

Maximum weight per bag: 15 kilograms.

Recycling

Up to eight per collection, in transparent BLUE bags.

If you have no garbage, all eight could be recyclables. If you have three garbage bags, put out up to five recyclable bags.

Maximum weight per bag: 15 kilograms.

Compost

Use your roadside green cart to dispose of compostable materials.

The Valley Waste system DOES allow biodegradable bags and cardboard liners.

Cardboard

Flatten and bundle cardboard to 3 ft x 2 ft x 1 ft. Tie it or put it in a blue recylcable bag, and place roadside.

Yard waste

Up to two bundles of brush per collection. Bundle to maximum 4 ft x 2 ft.