“Bag tags” took another step towards becoming a reality for local residents last week after town council approved a report by Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown and motioned for a bylaw to be prepared.
As previously reported, Brown is aiming to have the “bag tag” system up and running by Monday, May 31—the first garbage pick-up day where residents will have to attach tags to their garbage if they want it taken away.
The key to making sure everyone’s on the same page, said Brown, will be education.
On April 26, the town will mail out a letter outlining the new requirement, a brochure, and a service agreement form to all businesses and multi-residential properties that receive garbage collection services under the town’s contract with Asselin Transportation and Storage Ltd.
During the first and second week of May, five introductory “bag tags” will be mailed to property owners (the property owner will be responsible to distribute them to any tenants).
On May 18, two public meetings—one at 2 p.m. and the other at 7 p.m.—will be held at the Civic Centre.
The public will receive firsthand knowledge on the new user fees and waste management system, as well as have an opportunity to provide feedback on “bag tags” and the new waste management system as a whole.
Then on May 25, a special meeting of council will be scheduled for a reading of the bylaw, at which time any adjustments will be made (if deemed necessary) as a result of public feedback from the two aforementioned meetings.
Once any adjustments are made, a third and final reading will be made. The “bag tag” system then will take effect May 31.
How ‘bag tags’ work
As of May 31, residents will need “bag tags” for their garbage if they want it picked up and taken to the landfill.
“Bag tags” will be sold for $1 each, and be available at the Fort Frances Public Library, Memorial Sports Centre, and Civic Centre at first, with other locations possibly to follow.
Local businesses will be asked if they’d be willing to sell tags in the future, said Brown. Canada Safeway already has expressed interest in doing so at no cost to the town.
Proofs for the “bag tags” already have been ordered, noted Brown. Once they arrive and are approved by council, an initial order of 35,000 will be made.
All collected waste must be in one of two different proper containers.
“Type A” containers are common, store-purchased garbage cans, where the can and garbage content combined can’t weigh more than 40 pounds.
Brown clarified each such garbage can would need a “bag tag,” but within each container could be as many bags of garbage as the resident can fit in it—as long as it remains within the weight restriction.
These need not be regular-sized garbage bags, either—they could be small plastic bags like those groceries are packed in at Canada Safeway.
“Type B” containers are homemade bins that some residents have in their alleys.
But unlike now, where some of the users of these “Type B” containers fill them with numerous small bags of garbage, they’ll be required to put all refuse into large garbage bags, which, in turn, are to be individually tagged and put into the homemade bin.
There’s no limit to how many plastic garbage bags the resident can put into the homemade bin, as long as each bag is tagged, weighs no more than 40 pounds, has no more than a 120-litre capacity, and is securely tied in such a way to allow a garbage collector to carry it in one hand.
Enforcement
Once the “bag tag” system is implemented, town residents and business owners will be expected to comply with the new regulations immediately. Any person found to be in contravention of the regulations will be given one warning in writing specifying the infraction.
If the offence is repeated, charges will be laid.
The only exception to this rule will be for illegal dumping onto private or public lands. This will result in charges being laid immediately, with no warning being issued.
The town currently is establishing a short form wording for the new Waste Management Bylaw 10/04, whereby the bylaw officers will be able to issue fines immediately.
This fine was $500 in the Township of Marathon, where Brown helped implement “bag tags” before he came here last year.
However, under Section 77 of the Municipal Act, a maximum fine of $10,000 can be imposed for a first offence.
The three R’s
A significant part of the push for “bag tags,” said Brown, is that it encourages recycling.
But beyond putting out their “Blue Boxes” every two weeks, residents also can look into reducing the amount of waste materials they discard as well as consider re-using materials before they so readily throw them away.
For instance, residents can choose to purchase products with the least amount of packaging, buy in bulk, choose better quality products that can be easily fixed or last a lifetime, or avoid purchasing disposable, single-use items, among other strategies.
“Reduction is all about the things you don’t have to buy,” Brown noted in a report to council. “Look at what you and your family are buying; is half of it actually headed right into the garbage can?”
They also can reuse products. This could include reusing plastic or paper grocery bags, using reusable cloth bags, repairing broken items instead of throwing them away, using rechargeable batteries, and reusing plastic containers and jars after their original contents are gone.
Some items also can be given away to charity or sold at a garage sale instead of being thrown away.
And composting—the natural breakdown of kitchen and garden waste—is another option. Backyard composters are available at the Public Works building, Civic Centre, and Memorial Sports Centre for $40 each.
An estimated 30 percent of household waste is organic material, Brown said in his report.
As always, glass will continue to be accepted in the blue bins outside the Public Works building on Fifth Street West. The town stores this at the landfill, before it is eventually crushed and used as roadfill.
Who doesn’t use ‘bag tags’
Those exempt from using “bag tags” will be industrial and commercial/institutional (known collectively as ICI) and multi-residential properties, which instead will be responsible for all costs associated with the handling and disposing of their waste.
Brown noted currently more than 90 businesses and multi-residential properties benefit from the town’s garbage collection services (some on a weekly basis and some less frequently) as part of their taxes while others have contracts with garbage pickup services.
Once the waste management bylaw (of which “bag tags” is a part of) comes into effect, this will not be the case, and all ICI and multi-residential properties will have to arrange for their own garbage pickup.
Essentially, this means these property owners can enter into a customer service agreement with the town and retain the town’s garbage collection services according to a fee schedule based on the actual costs of providing these services.
This fee schedule is a result of a survey conducted last May, and is based on how long it takes for the garbage to be picked up at the property, with pricing categories such as “less than five minutes,” “five-10 minutes,” etc.
Or these property owners can make arrangements with a private hauler or dispose of their waste themselves at the landfill site subject to regular tipping fees.
Brown noted this change is only “fair” as businesses which currently hire a private contractor to haul away their garbage no longer will be subsidizing those who got it from the town as part of their regular taxes.
This fairness, said Brown, also applies to “bag tags” and residents, in that those who generate more waste will not be subsidized by those who actively recycle and produce less waste.
Money matters
The main goal of all this is to have the town’s waste system become a “stand-alone utility,” which does not rely on taxation but on user fees to sustain itself.
If the “bag tag” system goes ahead as detailed above (five introductory tags and $1/bag thereafter), it is expected to bring in $120,140 in revenue in 2004.
The total cost to operate the waste management system in Fort Frances in 2004 is expected to be $203,761 (which includes operation of the landfill site, collection of waste, and recycling services).
The balance of $83,044 is subsidized through taxes.
In 2005 and beyond, however, the “bag tag” system is expected to generate about $252,000 in revenue, which not only should fund garbage pickup and other aspects of the waste management system, but leave some funds to expand what the town can do with waste.
“If we want to enhance recycling, where’s the money going to come from? The province is supposed to be giving municipalities some, but we don’t know how much, or when?” noted Brown.
“Any extra money we might have, we put back into the system.
“Maybe we’ll develop a community composter. We’d need money for that,” he added. “How about boxboard? I know I want to get boxboard back into the system.”
Theoretically, Brown added, more recycling will mean means less waste is being deposited at the landfill, thus increasing its “longevity” and reducing future capital expenditures for the town down the road.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
