Few glitches as new garbage collection rolls out
WATERLOO REGION — There were a few glitches Monday as the new garbage collection rules took effect for Waterloo Region, but most people are following the changed schedule.
“It’s going very well. We’re very excited,” said Cari Rastas Howard, project manager.
In Waterloo and Cambridge where there is no garbage pickup this week, 80 to 90 per cent of residents didn’t put garbage out at the curb on Monday. Only Kitchener and the townships will have garbage collected this week.
A few issues with the MyWaste app did pop up. Often it was multi-residence addresses, which need to be entered manually, wrongly stating garbage was being collected this week.
“Every once and a while we have glitches,” said Rastas Howard, adding there are more than 160,000 addresses in the system.
She encourages people to call the hotline at 519-575-4400 if they notice an issue with the app and then it can be fixed. People answering the line will also have the most up-to-date information if people are uncertain.
Residents who downloaded the app before the new collection information was added may also have issues if they haven’t updated it.
When the app was introduced, it included seven sets of data for the different pickup schedules. But with the changes, waste collection is standardized across the region.
“Now we’ve rolled over to one single version of the app,” Rastas Howard said.
Another challenge is dealing with the traffic at waste sites handing out green bins and the larger recycling bins for containers.
Recycling and green bins will be picked up at the curb every week. Yard waste will be collected every second week March to November. Appliance and bulky item collection is every other week as well.
Two new waste management companies now under contract to the region headed out on the streets Monday in new collection trucks, two types for the townships and two for the cities.
Crews will put a sticker on garbage bags out at the curb on the wrong week, and education teams will follow up by putting a hanger with the new rules on the house’s front door.
People are asked to be courteous to their neighbours and bring in garbage until the correct pickup week.
Garbage is now also limited to four bags or additional ones with purchased tags. Compliance with the new bag limit is around 90 per cent, Rastas Howard said.