NIPAWIN — Recycling may soon become mandatory for all tax classifications in Nipawin, including commercial and industrial for the first time.
Nipawin council passed the first reading of the bylaw on Oct. 25, which will require three readings to pass.
“We want to look to divert as much material as possible from the landfill,” said Barry Elliott, Nipawin’s administrator. “This is one way to do that. We’re finding that there’s an awful lot of... recyclable material that’s ending up in our landfill and then of course it’s using up space.”
In the event the proposed changes are approved, all multi-residential buildings as well as commercial, industrial and institutional properties will receive the same level of services as residential properties.
Each commercial, industrial and institutional property will receive one black waste disposal roll-out cart and one blue recycling roll-out cart per property.
Commercial, industrial and institutional properties that exceed the volume of their allocated container must provide, at their own expense and their own contracted collection arrangements, additional containers or increased collection frequency for collection of solid waste and recyclable materials. Roll out carts will no longer be provided for vacant commercial, industrial and institutional properties.
Multi-residential properties with more than eight individual dwelling units will receive one dumpster and one blue recycling stationary container.
To accommodate larger multi-residential properties with limited outdoor space, an option will be provided where the property owners may choose to be provided with a maximum of four black waste disposal roll-out carts and four blue recycling roll-out carts rather than the stationary containers.
Individual property owners will be responsible to ensure recyclable material and other waste are separated to the greatest extent possible. All approved haulers will be informed that waste loads collected will be inspected when they arrive at the Boreal Area Regional Waste Diversion Centre. Loads that are excessively co-mingled clean recyclable materials with regular waste materials may be rejected for off-loading at the landfill.
Ahead of the second and third reading, the Town of Nipawin sent a letter to property owners informing them of the decision, and providing an opportunity for feedback on the proposed bylaw changes. Owners are encouraged to complete an attached “comment form,” with a deadline to return it to the town on Nov. 12.
Proposed changes are not planned to affect the collection schedule and frequency. All residential properties and most commercial, industrial, and institutional properties will continue to alternate weekly between garbage collection and recycling collection.
