Pickup crews will refuse biodegradable plastic bags filled with leaves
Vancouver residents who stuff leaves into biodegradable plastic bags for city crews to pick up this weekend are in for a big surprise.
The first city-wide collection for yard leaves that don’t fit in green bins takes place on Saturday and Sunday, and any plastic bags will be left behind.
Jonathan McDermott, solid waste programs branch manager, said city crews won’t pick up plastic bags of any kind, regardless of whether they’re biodegradable or compostable.
“It’s really important that people use paper bags or store bought bins — we’ll empty them into our truck,” he said.
“We won’t take a plastic bag and cut it open. It’s not acceptable in our composting system.”
Store bought bins for leaves should hold a maximum of 100 litres.
The city recommends residents set out leaves before 7 a.m. on Saturday to avoid a missed collection. Leaves will be collected either Saturday or Sunday, not both days.
McDermott reminded homeowners that crews will be picking up heavy bags all day, and asked that they be kept as dry as possible.
When they get soaked with rain, their weight increases substantially.
Heavier bags not only are more likely to break, they also contribute to sprained backs, he said.
During the four extra leaf collection weekends, city crews pick up about 700 tonnes of leaves.
All are taken to the Vancouver Landfill in Delta, where they’re turned into compost. Homeowners who spread yard leaves onto the street are liable to a $10,000 fine.
McDermott said big piles of leaves on the street contribute to flooding and make the road unsafe for cyclists and pedestrians.
This year, it is estimated that leaf collection on city streets will start shortly after Remembrance Day.
During the course of about eight weeks, city crews will remove between 5,000 and 8,000 tonnes of leaves, which are also turned into compost. (The variation in weight is due to whether the leaves are dry or wet when collected.)
“We try to hit the point when the majority of leaves have fallen and we’ll come through to pick them up,” McDermott said. “If anything remains, we will come back and hit those areas again. We try to get them all at once.”
He said the biggest headache are cars that aren’t moved when a street is being swept.
Because of the extra space the mechanical leaf sweeper needs on either side of a parked vehicle, one car left in the marked temporary No Stopping area means leaving behind an area equivalent to three vehicles.
“When those cars are in the way, it slows everything down,” McDermott said.
If you leave your car on a street that is going to be swept of leaves, you can be fined up to $100.
Vehicles will be towed around the corner, or to a nearby location.
More details are available on the city’s seasonal leaf collection page.