Editorial: Garbage – what's a township to do?

Jeff Green | Jun 01, 2012

Editorial by Jeff Green

Everybody is up in arms. Well not everybody, but some people - and those people are really up in arms - about the new clear bag garbage system in Central Frontenac.

People have said a lot about the clear bags: they are unworkable; they are an invasion of privacy; it is unfair that the old bag tags can't be used any more. The whole fiasco demonstrates that the township is out of touch with the people.

Why would a township council impose something like this on its residents?

There is a reason. The recycling rates in Central Frontenac are abysmal. They are very low compared to all of its neighbors, and the township has been facing pressure from the provincial government and its related agencies to address this reality. Provincial regulations are such that when the dumps in Central Frontenac are filled the garbage will have to be shipped out, at an increased cost to ratepayers. Once that happens, taxes will go up to pay shipping and dumping fees.

Exempting recycled materials from dumping fees did not work; there were still recyclables all over the waste pile. After years of hand wringing, the clear bag plan, an idea that had been laughed at when it was proposed years ago by former Councilor Logan Murray, ended up being adopted by this current council.

The clear bags create the potential for the garbage to be refused by the dump attendant if it includes recyclable or hazardous items. The township has the capacity to force people to pull material out of the bag they paid for, and put it in a recycling container for free. It is a forced savings program. My understanding is that the staff at the dump are not being heavy-handed about enforcing the rules.

This all seems like a pretty childish endeavour, sifting through garbage bags to reveal a can or a plastic bottle.

But the fact is that people in Central Frontenac have not been recycling, or the clear bag system would not have been required.

The commercial enterprises, including lodges and restaurants, are indeed being put into a corner by this. They can't always control the way their clientele acts, and if they have to sort the garbage themselves it is a potential hazard to their employees. The same issues arose in North Frontenac when they brought in clear bags, and the township can and will work with the businesses involved to make the system can work.

There is another option that has sprung up as well. Scott's container rentals will take any and all waste, for a price, out of the township to a commercial sump site. So, residents do have an option. Sort out the waste from the recycling or pay extra and throw everything into Scott's bins.

Central Frontenac still has work to do on its waste system, but the clear bags are part of that solution and the message they deliver, that recycling is mandatory at township waste sites, is a necessary one.