City Struggles To Keep Up With Demand As New Garbage Collection Program Begins
Posted November 3, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
November 3 marks the first day Toronto residents need to use a new system for getting rid of their trash. There’s only one problem: Nearly 75,000 of us still don’t have the required grey bins.
We were asked to order – and pony up for – the new receptacles based on how much garbage we anticipated putting out. Collection will no longer be covered entirely by tax revenue.
Homeowners had the choice of selecting their size of bin in the program and the different options can be seen here. But too many of us picked the Goldilocks option – not too big, not too small – and the manufacturer ran out.
The “pay as you throw” program officially began Saturday. But with garbage pick-up seldom done on weekends, residents are feeling the pinch Monday.
“I have no pink tags and no garbage bin and garbage day is tomorrow. So I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do,” wondered Ann Caden.
Those pink tags she mentioned are a stopgap measure the City introduced as they rushed to fill the larger than expected order. The tags were mailed out to affected residents and like many of us, are fit to be tied – that is, attached to the ubiquitous big black bags.
If you don’t have the bin or the tags, you need to call 416-338-BINS(2467) and let Toronto know about the predicament. You won’t be penalized financially, but the lines are very busy.
The plan, called Target 70, was designed to reduce the total volume of trash Toronto produces and to divert 70 per cent of waste from landfills into other resources, like recycling or green bins.
But that means a plethora of colour-coded bins on the lawn, and not all of us are pleased.
“We have about 14 different bins by this time collected back. And the grey bin is one more of the d**n things to find something to do with,” fumed Ken Sobel.
The delay isn’t helping.
“If you’re waiting for a professional, you’d never get this going. And what’s the point of having a pile of unresolved refuse issues? Take the bull by the horns,” argued Alan Carlyle.
“It’s more time, more money and all that stuff,” agreed Kimberley.
The plan will bring an extra $54 million a year into city coffers.
Find out more about the pink tags
Find out more about the grey bin program
Every single-family home will also receive a set of five yellow tags. They’re to be used for occasional extra waste, the kind that would come up during spring cleaning or after a large party.
But if you put out more than you bargained for, you can buy more of these “get of out jail” cards – not for free, but at $3.10 each. They’re for sale at Home Hardware.
