Bulk garbage collection to return to St. John's this fall
After bulk garbage collection was terminated more than a year ago, the City of St. John's is bringing back a scaled down version of the service.
City council eliminated free pickup of bulk garbage in its 2016 budget, which led to complaints that the city was encouraging improper dumping of trash as well as leaving seniors and others high and dry if they didn't have a truck to transport large items to the dump.
Coun. Danny Breen told the St. John's Morning Show on Tuesday that the city has received a lot of feedback about the issue, and looked at how to bring it back in a different, more cost-effective way.
Councillors voted unanimously Tuesday to implement the revised plan, which includes offering one pick-up per year to residents, through a contract with a private company.
The items that would qualify to be picked up would also be more limited than the previous program — to fridges, stoves, sofas, dryers and other bulk items.
Lower cost
Breen said the new system would be much cheaper than the $400,000 expense of the previous service, but would still help those who really need it.
"We're estimating that it will be about half the cost," he said. "By minimizing the items that we're taking but still meeting the needs of the people who contacted us directly about that."
He said it was suggested that council implement a fee to use the program, but that was rejected as they wanted to ensure those who needed the service most, such as seniors, would be able to use it.
Breen said the pick-up will likely come into effect this October and run for five weeks, subject to change for the following year.
Other changes
The previous bulk garbage program was offered twice a year for residents, but that's been cut back.
Another difference is that people won't be able to make appointments for their garbage to be picked up. Each ward will be assigned a specific week.
Breen said bringing back bulk collection is part of the city's larger strategy to control litter and dumping, but he wants to remind people that it won't be the same as before.
"If you're replacing a deck on your house, many people would get bulk garbage collection to take away the old deck —that won't be included this time," he said.
