Are you ready for the Bi-weekly Waste Collection Program?

As residents of Ward 10, we don’t always agree on everything, but I believe we all want a safe and enjoyable future for ourselves, our children and the generations to come.  One area where we are conscious of conserving the environment and ensuring long-term sustainability is to do with how we handle our waste. In the not-too-distant past, we have taken steps as individuals and as a community to manage our consumption and waste-collection. Peel pioneered in this direction in 1994 by rolling out a bi-weekly organics recycling program in Caledon. This was followed by the weekly organic recycling pilot project launched in 2002 to 1700 households in parts of Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon. Now it is time to get ready for the new bi-weekly garbage collection program to be launched in 2016 for more than 333,000 households in the Region of Peel.

One of the keys goals for moving to this new program is to divert a lot more of our waste from the garbage dump to recyclables. Many of us are still not using the green bins for our organics (compost). It is time that we learn about the waste we create, how it is collected and managed by the municipality and transformed into renewable energy; and how this waste impacts our immediate environment – our soil, groundwater, and other natural resources. And, of course, we know that waste collection has fiscal implications too. How much we collect and how we process eventually impacts the Region’s finances. The bi-weekly cart-based waste collection will help waste diversion, which in turn will reduce waste production and the expense incurred to manage it.

The new program will start in January 2016. In preparation, residents will choose the cart sizes appropriate for their needs. You can do this online at www.PeelRegion.ca/carts. If you want to physically see the carts prior to making your selection, visit an open house organized in your area – March 5 at Erin Meadows Community Centre or March 10 at Lisgar Middle School. These carts won’t cost you anything as long as you make your selection before March 31, 2015. There are many online resources available to find more information. Read more at the Region’s web page dedicated to this program. http://prd.app1.peelregion.ca/cart-confirmation/?utm_source=massmedia&utm_medium=direct&utm_campaign=biweekly

 You can also visit http://www.mississaugaward10.ca/ to find out more about the Open House in your area. Please don’t hesitate to call us, email us or even post your questions and comments right here.