Changes to waste collection across Western N.B. municipalities set for Sept. 1
Residents in the Upper St. John River Valley will see sweeping changes to their waste collection services.
A new schedule, which goes into effect on Sept. 1, affects every community within the Western Valley Regional Service Commission catchment area.
Going forward, waste stored in wooden boxes or other non-municipal-provided containers will not be collected.
This is due to the introduction of automated collection trucks, rather than collectors manually lifting garbage.
These new trucks will lift and empty the carts automatically, which the Western New Brunswick Service Commission says will improve safety for collection crews and result in faster and more efficient collection.
Due to this customization, garbage and recycling bins are now to be placed one metre apart, with at least three metres of overhead clearance to allow the truck to operate.
New bins able to operate with the trucks will be provided to residents in the coming days.
When asked whether the partial automation of the trucks would lead to job cuts among sanitization workers, Fred Thompson-Brown, Director of Environmental Health and Public Safety for the Western New Brunswick Service Commission, simply replied, “No.”
“If anything in relation to the nature of the job now and the job a few weeks from now, it becomes easier,” continued Thompson-Brown.
He was also quick to note that improving conditions for sanitation workers through the trucks will help improve role retention rates, which Thompson-Brown stated was currently a difficulty for the department.
Also notable is that regular waste will now be collected weekly, with recycling collected biweekly rather than monthly.
“[Since recycling is] every other week now [it] means that material is much more likely not to go to a landfill but actually go for recycling, … [and] the more material we send in that direction reduces how much we have to pay for sending perfectly good recyclable materials into the landfill,” said Thompson-Brown.
He also spoke extensively about the potential environmental benefits of increased recycling, including reduced waste sent to landfills, noting that it could curb methane emissions.
James Chisholm is a Woodstock father of three. He says the new schedule works much better for young families.
“As a larger family, we try to buy a lot of things in bulk, and everything comes in boxes. We have [recycling] overflow,” Chisholm explained. “[The new schedule] will save room in our house; it’ll keep our yard clean and tidy, and we’ll be enticed to recycle more.”
He also noted that weekly garbage pickup will be “huge” for parents of infants.
“The recycle weeks when garbage wasn’t picked up were horrible for us in the summer when our kids were in diapers. This is so much better,” explained Chisholm.
The new recycling calendars were published in the River Valley Sun’s August newspaper.
