With supply chain issues, labour shortages and new bin, truck and route adjustments, Sechelt’s transition to its new curbside garbage and recycling collection system has been “bumpy with citizens taking the brunt of the errors with missed collection and new bin delays.” That statement was provided to Coast Reporter by Sechelt’s director of financial services, David Douglas on Dec. 13.
In an email, Douglas wrote “we’re in contact with Waste Management [its collection contractor] daily to produce solutions that will help avoid missed waste collection and devise long-term solutions that will provide reliable service for our citizens.”
West Sechelt resident Cindy Wren Richard described her experience with the system change over as “a bit of a nightmare.” She is one of several area residents who took to social media over the past few weeks to post about her frustration over “inconsistencies and inconveniences” caused by the troubled transition.
Her property has gone without garbage or recycling collection since Dec. 3. Her family resorted to hauling material to the landfill. That meant to properly dispose of home refuse, they had to pay landfill tipping charges on top of the annual fees they pay to Sechelt for curbside service.
She is also facing other challenges with the new system. There are three separate residences sharing the driveway that serves her home. Only one set of new bins was delivered. She has called the municipality twice to report that oversight.
Sechelt admits it is still in the bin delivery process. Douglas stated that “80 to 90 per cent of residents have received their new bins and the remaining will receive bins this week.”
Once the additional bins arrive, Wren Richard has concerns about how up to six bins, plus bagged yard waste from the three homes, will fit at the end of her driveway on collection day. The driveway connects to Highway 101 in an area that has a narrow road shoulder. Bins need to be placed three feet apart for pick up by the automatic loading trucks. “We will have bins spread over 20 feet down the highway for collection… and when the truck drops them back down, I know they are going to end up in the ditch, or they will be knocked down there by highway traffic.” She has voiced her concerns to the municipality, but no solutions to her problem have been offered.
“They haven’t thought it out as far as logistics and geography of where people live here, because there are some of us that simply don’t have the space on the side of the road for pick up with the automated truck. I don’t mind paying more for the program if the program works,” said Wren Richard. She said she feels Sechelt should have consulted residents on the new automated truck program before implementation. If that had happened, she believes issues like those facing her property could have been considered.
Capping off Wren Richard’s concerns is the level of communication from the municipality to residents. She uses the Sechelt Citizen App to stay up to date on curbside collection service disruption notices. In her view, these notices which often come out on the day impacted, should be distributed earlier to ensure residents are aware of changes. While she sympathizes with municipal staff taking complaint calls from residents, she said Sechelt should be doing more to help ensure residents know what is going on.
Sechelt announced its transition to a new curbside garbage and recycling system in mid-November. That timing coincided with extreme weather events throughout the province that added complications to supply chain and transportation issues already impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wren Richard questions the municipality’s decision to move forward with the new program in December. “Why didn’t they postpone the program start date until they were ready? They should have rolled the bins out two to three weeks before the start date to ensure that all properties had the bins and the information needed,” she said.
“Although the District would have preferred to see a perfect roll-out, we anticipated some degree of hick-ups and questions from residents about the adjusted services. District staff are doing the best they can to answer questions and calls from residents and are working hard to come up with plans that will see an end to inconsistent waste collections,” Douglas stated.
“Our community is at the point where organics pick up is essential, not only for reducing the amount going into the local landfill, but towards reducing our overall environmental impact as well. The end goal of this program is to reduce waste going to the landfill and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through diversion of organics.”
Pick up of the bins from the old recycling program also hasn’t proceeded as Sechelt had planned. While the initial announcement said that those bins would be collected by mid-December, Sechelt’s communications manager Lindsay Vickers said the timeframe for collection has been extended to the end of the month.
