Northeast Scarborough residents to receive new garbage bins
City begins delivery of new pay-as-you-throw containers
Residents in northeast Scarborough can expect another present from the city waiting for them at the end of their driveway.
The City of Toronto began delivery of its new garbage bins Thursday, July 3. The first area to receive the black bins is northeast Scarborough - Steeles Avenue south to Hwy 401 and Brimley Road east to Port Union Road.
All Scarborough homes that are to receive the bins should have them by the end of July.
"They can start using them as soon as they get them," said Pat Barrett, city spokesperson. "There will be no fees until Nov. 1."
The new garbage bins follow the introduction of new larger recycling bins, which were delivered to Scarborough residents in the winter.
The new bins are part of the city's aggressive waste diversion plan with a goal to divert 70 per cent of waste by 2010. The larger recycling bins will allow households to divert more, including new items the city hopes to add to its list of recyclables by the end of the year.
The garbage bins are part of a user pay system where the more garbage one generates, the more one pays. To do this, the city has to be able to measure how much garbage people put out so it is moving to a bin system where residents pay according to the size of garbage bin they select.
The bins come in four sizes.
The small bin is equivalent to one bag of garbage and it comes with a net credit of $10 (residents are being credited $209 for the waste management portion of their property tax and then being charged a fee based on the size of the bin they've selected). The medium bin is equal to a bag and a half at a cost of $39 a year; the large bin is equal to three bags and costs $133; and the extra large bin is equal to four and a half bags and costs $190.
Residents are also receiving five free bag tags they can use to throw away additional garbage; the tags need to be used by December 2009. Additional tags will be available for purchase.
