In North Vancouver, preserving our natural spaces and protecting the environment for future generations is always top of mind, and so is being financially responsible in our decision-making and operations.
That’s why we’re embracing Metro Vancouver’s goal to recycle 80 per cent of our waste by 2020. In 2017, we’re taking new steps to keep recyclables, including organics, away from the region’s landfill in Delta and incinerator in Burnaby.
Diverting recyclables and organics from the garbage stream means the existing landfill has a longer life. But that’s not the only financial advantage of sorting our waste. Garbage that contains more than 25 per cent food scraps is now subject to a 50 per cent surcharge on the tipping fee that we, and ultimately you, pay.
Starting July 2017, this threshold will be lowered to just 5 per cent permissible organics in garbage, making not separating out our food scraps an increasingly costly habit.
To help us all comply with these new standards and separate waste into organics, recyclables and garbage, the District of North Vancouver will be distributing new locking carts – one for garbage and one for organics – to all residences currently using municipal garbage collection service.
Of course, we all know that living in bear territory means we need to be responsible with any waste that can attract wildlife, so the new carts will be fitted with a locking mechanism. In addition, organics will be picked up before garbage on collection day, to minimize the amount of time the food waste is sitting out on the street or in the lane.
The carts will have wheels to make it easier for you to move them to the curb, and to improve worker health and safety by minimizing manual lifting of heavy cans and garbage bags by our collection crews.
Cart delivery will begin in Zone 1 in early 2017 and continue across the remaining four collection zones in a phased approach throughout the year. We will also be setting up a special day for collecting old garbage and organics bins to be recycled, once everyone has the new carts.
Keep an eye on the North Shore News for ads with more information closer to your zone’s delivery date, and visit our web site at dnv.org/carts for more information. Also, don’t forget to download our waste collection app, DNVCollect, direct to your mobile device for helpful reminders about collection days.
About the new cart program:
You will receive two carts – one for garbage and one for organics – for free.
The size of the carts you receive will depend on your house size (single-family home or townhouse).
You will be able to upsize or downsize your carts once for free (following a trial period).
If you change cart size a second time, you will need to pay an administrative fee.
The 2018 fees for garbage collection (utility rate) will be based on cart size.
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