Newmarket resident petitions for grass clipping collection

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 4, 2017
By Teresa Latchford

Nanda Shetye wants the Town of Newmarket to pick up grass clippings.

The Newmarket resident went door-to-door in Ward 4 gathering a couple hundred names on a petition, calling on the town to reinstate grass clipping collection as part of its current yard waste collection. It would be much easier on residents to put the clippings curbside rather than transporting them to the Richmond Hill or Georgina depots.

"Richmond Hill is a long way to go and some residents don't have cars," he said. "I'm not doing this for me, it's for the entire town."

He questions where all of the tax dollars are going if the town can't offer this simple service as other places do.

Currently, Vaughan is the only York Region municipality still collecting.

His petition didn't go unnoticed as it was recently discussed in council chambers. Councillors were unsure if it was a topic for the municipality or the region to discuss and many expressed an interest in what the cost to offer the service would be as well as the impact on residential tax bills.

The town previously did collect grass clippings but discontinued the practice in 2005, development and infrastructure commissioner Peter Noehammer said. It did so along with most of the municipalities across York Region.

"When grass is processed it produces odour," he added.

It was part of the smell being emitted by Halton Recycling Inc. located on Harry Walker Parkway until the Ministry of the Environment shut it down in 2005.

"There was this kind of watershed moment as municipalities realized there were better and more environmentally friendly ways to recycle grass clippings," he said.

Grasscycling, leaving clippings on the lawn where they can break down, hydrate and infuse the soil with nutrients, has become the preferred way to deal with clippings.

However, Shetye points out that if someone has been on vacation and the grass is long, leaving the clippings will kill the grass.

A staff report including cost and more details is expected to return to council before the end of the year.

Shetye encourages all residents to contact their local councillor to express their support.