Some County of Grande Prairie residents are getting a garbage pick up overhaul. Households in the Dunes, Maple Ridge Estates, Carriage Lake, Wedgewood, Taylor Estates and Clairmont will be getting automated carts for curbside collection of residential waste. Whispering Ridge and Westlake are included and there’s no cost to residents.
Currently, people living in those neighbourhoods can leave garbage bags at the curb, or use their own bins. Technical Services Manager Jennifer Besinger says the change should make the process more convenient and better for the environment.
“Often the bags get strewn from vermin, and the rolling bins are cleaner and they have a nicer footprint and they’re much easier for residents to use.”
The County says the 64 gallon bins can fit three to four black garbage bags worth of waste, and residents will have to buy $3 bag tags for any garbage that doesn’t fit. Items can also be brought to the Clairmont Centre for Recycling and Waste Management for free using a landfill access card.
“The bins are so easy to use and they actually accommodate a fair amount of garbage, so I think that it will be embraced,” says Besinger.
Otherwise, she says residents shouldn’t notice a change to their curbside collection. Regular pickup days and times won’t change, and the blue bag recycling program will continue as usual.
“The carts need to be curbside by 7 a.m. in order to be picked up and be brought back in by day’s end. The wheels go to the curb, and the bin itself needs a little bit of space so that the automated truck can pick it up.”
It’s recommended to leave a metre around the carts so the specially designed truck can pick them up, empty them, and return them to the same spot.
The carts should be delivered between May 1st and 15th, and can be used immediately. Residents who have already bought 64 gallon waste carts from Prairie Disposal can continue to use them.