{"id":26576,"date":"2020-05-21T14:56:11","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T18:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=26576"},"modified":"2020-05-21T14:56:17","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T18:56:17","slug":"more-than-three-garbage-bags-they-might-be-left-on-your-curb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/more-than-three-garbage-bags-they-might-be-left-on-your-curb\/","title":{"rendered":"More than three garbage bags? They might be left on your curb"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Non-compliance with three-bag limits for waste collection could\nprompt a crackdown and new measures from the Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council is considering a public education campaign to drive home\nthe limits of residential waste pickup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potential new rules have been drafted in response to what is\ndescribed as \u201cnon-compliance\u201d with the three-bag limit set in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBased on previous reports to Council on this issue specific to\nresidential waste collection, there appears to have been compliance problems\nfor many years,\u201d said Jim Tree, Manager of Parks and Water. \u201cThis may be a\nresult of non-enforcement and a lack of public education on the matter. This,\ncoupled with the fact the Town continues to remove all waste placed at the\ncurb, there is a definite expectation in the community that this is permitted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That could soon change. The issue has been tracked for the past 12\nmonths to \u201cgain a better understanding of the problem and its magnitude\u201d and\nthis tracking has identified \u201cseveral\u201d residential hotspots where homeowners\nare in non-compliance. In some cases during the study, residents questioned\nstaff as to their presence in the neighbourhoods and it was found many\nhomeowners were not aware there was a bag limit on the books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs stewards of the environment, the\nmunicipality should be much more active in engaging with our residents to\nreduce the amount of waste entering the landfill and incineration,\u201d said Mr.\nTree. \u201cStaff suggest the focus should not be aimed at a reduction in costs\nassociated with enforcing bag limits, but rather what we can all do to reduce\nwaste. For example, for the past three (3) years, the Town of Aurora\u2019s total\nvolume of solid waste exported was 6,192.30 metric tonnes in 2017, 6,193.00\nmetric tonnes in 2018, and 6,496.46 metric tonnes in 2019. In this day of\nheightened environmental awareness, it seems reasonable that the Town\ndemonstrate leadership in striving to reduce solid waste. Introducing a \u2018Bag\nTag\u2019 program in response to allowing increased solid waste collection might be\nseen as counter-productive to this goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen compared to many other\nmunicipalities in the GTA, the Town of Aurora has a generous limit on the\namount of residential waste placed at the curb such that any move to enforce\nthe current limits could quite easily be accommodated by the majority of our\nresidents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than modify the three-bag\nlimit, staff propose an extensive communication plan. These measures include\nposting information online through various channels, electronic notice signs\nplaced strategically around Aurora, and placing door-knockers at all\nresidences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere comes a time when actual enforcement of a by-law may be the only means of gaining public attention and compliance,\u201d added Mr. Tree. \u201cA reduction in the amount of solid waste entering the environment, whether it be landfill or incineration, can only be viewed as a positive step. Most residents would support a reduction and react positively to any efforts aimed at education and awareness. We cannot expect complete compliance with the three bag limit no matter how much notice is given.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The education campaign was expected to\ncarry through October 1 before penalties are considered, but COVID-19 has\nthrown that proposed timeline into disarray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCertainly our timeline was to have it implemented in 2020 of this\nyear,\u201d Al Downey, Aurora\u2019s Director of Operations. \u201cHowever, based on what\nwe\u2019re into right now, I don\u2019t know that that is advisable. Depending on how\nthings unfold with regards to COVID and how quickly we can get back to a new\nnormal, [we can] put together a timetable with regards to this plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we have done is outline a plan. We have put a proposed\ntimetable in it but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the appropriate timetable now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the timeline is clear, however, and the education campaign\nconcludes, there will be penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should someone be found in their first non-compliance, GFL will be\ndirected to remove the \u201cexcess waste\u201d and place a written notification at the\nhome indicating non-compliance and this would serve as a warning that any\nfuture garbage overages will not be removed. A second instance of\nnon-compliance would see the issuance of a written notice of bylaw violation\nand excess waste will remain at the curb. In the third instance, waste will not\nonly remain at the curb but Bylaw Services will be asked to attend the\nresidence and follow up with the resident and this may include a charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONCERNS RAISED AT TABLE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to the matter at the Committee level, however, some\nCouncillors raised concerns over what was being proposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Wendy Gaertner, for instance, said a couple of\nsuggestions in the education plan made her \u201cuncomfortable\u201d, including sending\nbylaw officers to the door in the case of a third infraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we start with an education program and then we become aware of [an infraction], we start with education and, as per the report on the third\ninfraction, we would move to more progressive enforcement,\u201d said Techa van\nLeeuwen, Aurora\u2019s Director of Bylaw Services. \u201cWe would engage with the\nproperty owner or the occupant in terms of taking further steps in enforcement.\nWe knock on doors all the time and that is how we respond to complaints, have\nthose conversations and then take appropriate action.\u201d\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Councillor also pointed out that Aurora is the only one of\nYork Region\u2019s \u201cnorthern six\u201d municipalities that does not have a bag tag\nprogram for curbside garbage pickup, questioning that should this new framework\nbe enacted whether those performing waste pickup would need to keep track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDepending on when this happens and how it unfolds, we\u2019re giving\nyou a process here at this point,\u201d said Mr. Downey. \u201cIn the final stage, when\nwe actually execute it, if the Town is going to enforce the three-bag limit, if\nyou put out five bags of garbage, they will only pick up three. Two bags would\nbe left on the curb.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Proposed new measures could limit waste collection, but COVID-19 has cast doubt on timeline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6UE","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 02:37:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26576\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}