As of Earth Week in April, Kawartha Lakes residents will need to ensure no recyclable materials are included in their garbage bags, or else the bags won’t be picked up.
The City of Kawartha Lakes announced on Tuesday (March 31) that Miller Waste, which collects garbage on behalf of the municipality, will begin enforcing the city’s waste management by-law beginning Monday, April 20.
As of that date, Miller Waste will tag any garbage bag that contains recyclables with an “Oops” tag and will not collect it, indicating why the bag was left behind.
If recyclables are removed and the garbage bag is set out again the following week, Miller Waste will collect the previously tagged bag as part of a double collection that week.
“This grace period will be in place until further notice,” states the municipality on its website.
However, if a garbage bag is set out the following week without the recyclables removed, it will continue to be tagged and left behind.
The municipality’s mandatory waste-sorting requirement is a result of an Ontario-wide expanded recycling program that came into effect on January 1, with a new list of recyclable items that were previously disposed of in garbage.
The new list of recyclable items includes hot and cold beverage cups (coffee cups), black plastic containers, frozen juice containers, ice cream tubs, toothpaste tubes, deodorant containers, foam packaging (including meat trays, takeout containers, cups, plates, bowls, and foam packaging for products), and flexible packaging (including chip bags, pet food bags, bubble wrap, snack wrappers, cereal box liners, deli pouches, and plastic gift bags).
In the City of Kawartha Lakes, garbage is collected by Miller Waste and recycling is collected by Emterra Environmental. According to the City of Kawartha Lakes, the mandatory waste-sorting requirement will help keep collection running smoothly while supporting the municipality’s integrated waste management strategy, which focuses on reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill and increasing recycling and diversion.
“Properly sorting waste and recycling will help get residents ready for organics program changes starting June 15, which will affect households in the curbside organics program,” the municipality’s website states.
Currently, up to 10 per cent of material in a garbage bag can be organic waste. After June 15, no organic waste will be allowed in garbage bags.
“Starting now with recycling helps ensure residents are ready for these upcoming changes,” the municipality states.
