Waste changes given OK

On Monday afternoon, phones at city hall were ringing off the hook with residents looking to demystify changes to St. Albert’s solid waste and recycling program.

That night, city council unanimously approved final changes to the solid waste collection system. Residents now will only have to deal with a flat rate for garbage and choose one of three subscription rates instead of six. Another new change is the additional $5.50 monthly flat fee for the new curbside recycling program that takes effect July 1.

But not even Mayor Nolan Crouse was convinced that every resident would understand the changes, which were first introduced earlier this year. The city has sent out information about the new rates to homeowners in the mail.

“We will take some heat and questions in the next six weeks when it’s not quite clear for people,” said Crouse, adding he believes the community is ready for the program.

But according to public works director Glenn Tompolski the new scheme really isn’t that complicated. Residents now have three options for regular garbage pickup: one bag collected every two weeks, one bag collected every week or two bags collected weekly.

“[We’re] basically trying to simplify the pay as you throw program down to three levels, encourage more waste reduction by just having three levels, and also the intent is with curbside recycling coming on stream that’s an opportunity for residents to recycle more,” Tompolski explained.

The flat fee for garbage pickup will increase slightly to $4 per month, up from $3.65. Subscription rates also increased, as did extra tags which now cost $2.15 but have no expiry date. Residents can phone to change their subscription rate once a year at no cost.

According to Tompolski, the system is designed to be user-pay.

“The people that generate less waste, or dispose of less waste pay lower fees than the people that dispose of more,” Tompolski said.

As for curbside recycling, residents can put out as many bags as they want, as long as they use translucent blue or clear bags and follow recycling guidelines. Curbside recycling is only available to residents of single-detached homes, although Tompolski said the city would look at ways to include apartments and businesses in the coming months.

Curbside recycling at this point does not include organics collection. It could be 2010 or 2011 before such material is accepted.

Information packages about the program and recycling guidelines will be distributed to residents over the next several weeks.