At the conclusion of a 45-day pilot project, Progressive Waste Solutions has decided to let Wallaceburg residents keep their large blue garbage totes free of charge.
Wes Muir, director of of government and public relations, told the Sydenham Current they had a very successful pilot project in Wallaceburg and in Tilbury.
“We made the decision as a company to not charge for the toters to ensure that we have the greatest participation in the program. We will be continuing with the roll out throughout the regional district throughout the year. For those people that have purchased the carts we will reimburse them. For those who may have called and asked us to take the carts back, they can certainly contact us again and we will simply return them back to them,” Muir said.
As the program is rolled out across Chatham-Kent, everyone will receive a toter for free.
“We wanted to remove any barrier that was coming between the use of the carts by residents and by not charging them, we felt we would end up with greater participation which we anticipate, Muir said. “We already have very good participation but we want to make sure there is a consistency right across the region. We felt this was probably a significant investment on our part, but one that would improve the safety and productivity of our new automated collection.”
Muir said there are many benefits to the new system.
“In addition to the safety considerations, it also reduces the amount of litter because they are all contained in the cart. All the bags can be contained in one cart so it prevents animals form getting into. It eliminates the issue of litter in the streets, vermin, crows and other animals from getting into the garbage, so it contributes to the environmental benefit of having them here. Obviously the other environmental benefit is the efficiency of the trucks. They are able to collect more in a short period of time so it makes it more efficiency and less emissions are involved in the collection process.”
Muir said they received a lot of feedback during the pilot project in Wallaceburg.
“We had a lot of positive feed back in the sense that the carts were there and that addressed the issues that I had mentioned before. Specifically the litter issue because that was a real big problem that was relayed to us by people in the community including the regional government. The one resounding issue form us has been the safety issue.
Muir added: “That’s the major thing and this is something we are doing in our operations right across the North America. We are moving towards automating collection. It dramatically improves the safety of our drivers and keeps them contained within the vehicle and they don’t have to put them selves in risk by being behind the vehicle and running the risk of being hit by distracted drivers which is a big concern in communities right across North America.”
Muir said with respect to refunds or residents who would like their returned bin back, they can contact Progressive Waste’s office at 1-519-360-9435 ex 0.
We need to hear from City Council… Will these carts become mandatory or not? Who’s running Chatham-Kent? It’s going to be really interesting to see how senior citizens manage to haul these monsters through a foot of snow and then pile them atop the snowbank left by city plows… Not too much of a problem in three of the four seasons… but that fourth one is going to lead to a lot of heart-attacks… How’s that going to make you feel Mr. Mayor?
The phone number at the bottom appears to be for a private citizen’s cell phone.
Thanks, Jason! It has been corrected. It was our error. Our apologies to whoever had that phone number!
Well I thought it would be hard to complain about the carts any more, but I was obviously wrong.
If it helps ease your fears I understand these carts are already in use in many parts of the country for more than a year and I have heard no reports of any dead seniors from it.
I would like to thank Progressive for their generous program and welcome the many benefits the carts provide!