The City of Peterborough has announced that weekly waste collection dates for some city residents will change on October 31 when the city implements its new green bin program and switches to every-other-week garbage collection.
Around 8,200 households and businesses in the city will have new waste collection dates. You can check your collection date using the online tool at peterborough.ca/mycollectionday. Beginning immediately and continuing over the next few weeks, the city will also be hand delivering notices to households and affected businesses that will see their weekly waste collection day change.
The city says the changes are necessary to ensure waste collection services are delivered on schedule as the city grows and to improve worker safety by balancing collection routes.
“Over decades of residential development, where some areas of the city have seen significant growth and other areas have had limited growth, the routes for waste collection days have become unbalanced,” reads a media release from the city. “Some days have many more homes and businesses, which means many more stops for collection, compared to other collection days. This makes it increasingly challenging to complete routes in the set times as the city continues to grow. It is a concern for worker safety as well as reliability of service delivery.”
The changes to collection days beginning on October 31 coincide with the city’s introduction of its new weekly green bin service, which will collect household organic waste.
As the green bin service is expected to remove up to 20 per cent of organic waste from residential garbage, the city will also only collect garbage ever other week instead of weekly. Recycling collection will continue on a weekly basis.
All eligible households will receive a large heavy-duty pest-proof bin, which include wheels and a locking mechanism on the lid, for curbside collection, as well as a smaller container for use in the kitchen.
In September, the city will begin delivering green bins to eligible residential properties, including residential properties with six units or less and certain condominiums selected as part of the first phase of the green bin program rollout.
Information about the green bin program and other waste collection services will be included inside the green bin. The information will include the city’s 2023-2024 waste management calendar and guide with collection schedules and a list of waste items that are allowed and not allowed in a green bin.
There will also be samples of Glad-brand compostable bags and liners that can be used for the kitchen-sized green bins, an information sheet about the new requirement to use clear bags for curbside garbage collection (along with a free sample of a clear garbage bag and a $2 rebate coupon provided by Glad), and details on how to recycle batteries with a collection cube provided by Call2Recycle.
