Stouffville residents have say ahead of new garbage contract

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 19, 2016
By Sandra Bolan

Almost 100 per cent (99 per cent) of survey respondents said they recycle.

About 220 Whitchurch-Stouffville residents completed a survey on waste collection, which was conducted as part of the municipality’s N6 joint procurement process for municipal waste.

The N6 consists of York Region’s northern six municipalities: Aurora, East Gwillimbury, Georgina, Newmarket, King and Whitchurch-Stouffville.

The contract expires next year, however, town staff anticipates it will take 12 to 18 months for a new contractor, should one be selected, to order trucks and equipment as well as put processes in place, according to the staff report going to town council today. The contract is expected to be awarded this June.

Green For Life (GFL) is the current contractor.

In early January 2014, GFL’s trucks malfunctioned and the weather was too cold for drivers to go out, so collection was one day spontaneously cancelled.
GFL officials never apologized to Whitchurch-Stouffville council nor its residents, but admitted, in a hastily called council meeting, there was a communication breakdown between them, town staff and residents.
The company’s problem in collecting garbage did not end there.
In January 2015, Aurora’s Jeff Ketelaars became so frustrated with the way he was treated by GFL’s customer service department and by the harsh way the collector spoke to his sister, he mailed his garbage to the company.

The local survey found 91 per cent of respondents use the green bin, while 85 per cent use the yard waste program and 45 per cent use the bulk item program, according to the report.

About three quarters - 74 per cent - of respondents indicated they “understand very well” the types of materials accepted in waste collection programs.

However, 1 per cent admitted it’s too complicated and they put everything in the garbage.

Two is the number of bags 42 per cent of respondents normally put out. That was followed by one bag (29 per cent), three (23 per cent) and four or more bags (6 per cent), according to the report.

When it comes to the changes people would like to see to the service, the respondents indicated they wanted more items accepted in the blue box, like meat trays/Styrofoam, shredded paper and plastic bags. They would also like the curbside recycling containers to have lids.

Some respondents indicated they would like to put their recyclables in clear bags, like in some municipalities, to avoid having the items blow all over the street, or get left behind by the collector.

Residents also commented they would like the green bins to be animal proof.

Council is expected to decide on the procurement agreement during Tuesday’s council meeting. It begins at 3 p.m. It is open to the public.