Black bag ban

Victoria County to officially eliminate black bags starting Monday

Residents of Victoria County will soon have no choice but to use clear bags for their garbage collection.

As of Monday, the Municipality of Victoria County will no longer be collecting black bags. All household waste must be separated in clear bags for garbage, blue bags for recyclables and green bags for compost.

Jocelyn Bethune, communications officer for the county’s public works, said many resident have already made the switch to clear bags.

“The clear bag program was introduced in Victoria County three years ago and it’s a program that most municipalities across Nova Scotia have,” she said. “The benefits of clear bags is to increase recycling and compost, and that’s part of us meeting the provincial regulation to reduce our waste.

“We asked residents three years ago to voluntarily make the switch to clear bags and then we would have a mandatory phase, and what’s happening now is we’re just moving into the mandatory phase.”

The Municipality of Victoria County passed the new bylaw on May 8.

The bylaw went into effect on June 1 and under the bylaw households can be fined up to $1,000 for not separating plastic and paper.

Waste collectors will begin tagging black bags on Monday, officially starting the rejection phase.

Bethune said residents will be allowed one privacy bag per clear bag each week.

“Residents can use a kitchen-catcher size bag for personal garbage, where residents are asked to tie that bag and place it inside the clear bag,” she said. “A lot of residents for their privacy actually use a plastic grocery bag.”

Along with curbside collection, black bags will also not be accepting at transfer stations in Baddeck and Dingwall, as well as recycling depots in Baddeck and New Haven.

Bethune said residents have been given notice well in advance of the change to clear bags.

“There was a newsletter that went out to all residents in Victoria County all about the rejection of black bags,” she said. “Last month when our collectors saw that somebody had put a black bag out, there was a sticker left, letting them know they collected their garbage this time, but in the days ahead that they wouldn’t be collecting them.”

Residents who want more information about the elimination of black bags or sorting their garbage, can contact Bethune at 902-295-2117 or visit the municipality’s website at www.victoriacounty.com.