Autobins soon on their way out

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This article was published 04/01/2012 (5253 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg is set to finally get rid of neighbourhood Dumpsters that generate more trash and attract illegal dumping.

In April, city officials will start to replace the 4,800 autobins that serve 23,000 homes located in inner-city areas with rolling garbage and recycling carts. The bulk of Winnipeg’s autobins are located in Daniel McIntyre, Point Douglas and Mynarski neighbourhoods and previous studies have shown homes that use autobins generate twice as much waste as other households. Residents also routinely complain people dump bulky items such as mattresses in the autobins.

The move will be the first significant overhaul introduced under Winnipeg’s new garbage and recycling master plan, which was approved by city council last fall.

Darryl Drohomerski, manager of solid waste services, said the city decided to target the autobin areas first because the collection trucks are past their service lives and are at risk of “falling apart.”

He expects the change will cause a huge jump in recycling since the 240-litre garbage and recycling carts will help curb illegal dumping and encourage residents to recycle more and throw away less.

The carts are roughly the size of three standard-sized garbage bags or four blue boxes.

Drohomerski said the city removed autobins that serviced 1,100 homes in the Dufferin/William Whyte neighbourhood in October and worked with residents and community groups to help deal with the change. Drohomerski said the number of homes that recycled jumped to 60 per cent from two per cent.

“The success that we’ve had in there has been phenomenal. There’s no illegal dumping anymore or abandoned waste,” he said. “If we can make it work in this small area we can make it work in the entire autobin area.”

This year, 320,000 garbage and recycling carts will be rolled out across the city.

Drohomerski said the city has put out a tender and plans to hire one contractor to pick up garbage, recycling and yard waste to make the system simpler and more accountable. He said garbage and recycling pickup are done by two separate companies currently.

Winnipeg households will soon have a set day of the week for garbage and recycling pickup, Drohomerski said, as the city plans to do away with its current system of garbage and recycling days.

Drohomerski said he expects the autobins will be replaced in April and May and remaining neighbourhoods in Winnipeg will start to receive their garbage and recycling carts in August and September. All households will have their carts by the end of September. All autobins will be gone.

Neighbourhoods in the city’s northwest were the first to test the new garbage-cart system in 2010. After one year, the area recorded the highest level of recycling Winnipeg has ever seen — 47,000 metric tonnes — and saw the amount of waste sent to landfill drop by nearly 11,000 metric tonnes compared with the previous year.

Drohomerski said the city plans to expand its recycling facility by October, which is operating at capacity. He said the amount of recyclable material headed to the facility is expected to increase to 70,000 tonnes from 50,000 tonnes by the end of 2013.

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca;