Changes to Summerland’s garbage, recyclables and yard waste collection system are coming, but at present, not all homes in the community have the new containers for the automated curbside collection program.
Tami Rothery, sustainable/alternate energy coordinator for the community, said a delay with the manufacturer has resulted in the carts being delivered later than originally anticipated.
At present, roughly two-thirds of the new carts have been delivered to households in Summerland.
The changes mean Summerland homes will now have three carts, one for garbage, one for recyclable materials and one for yard waste.
Garbage in the garbage cart will still be bagged, but the methods of dealing with recyclable materials and yard wastes are changing.
Instead of using blue or transparent bags for recyclable materials, recyclables will go directly into the cart.
One exception is shredded paper, which must be bagged. However, RecycleBC has started to move away from the requirement of plastic bags for shredded paper and is now moving to promote paper bags and boxes, Rothery said.
For yard wastes, residents are now limited to what they can place in the yard waste cart. Those who have additional waste must either switch to a larger yard waste container or purchase a single-use tag at $2.50 for each bag.
Alternately, up to 500 kilograms of yard waste may be taken directly to the landfill.
Residents can change the size of any of the carts to a larger size, but the collection fees will change for those who upsize the carts.
Since the changes mean older garbage containers are no longer needed, old garbage cans which are empty and cleaned may be taken to the arena until the end of August. The old containers will then be reused or recycled.
