A new garbage collection plan was finally approved at City Hall on Wednesday. (CITY OF WINNIPEG)
After much debate, Winnipeg city council approved a new garbage collection plan Wednesday, which will see residents pay an additional $50 per year for garbage and recycling pickup.
During a meeting of council, the plan passed 11-4, with councillors Ross Eadie, Harvey Smith, Mike Pagtakhan and Jeff Browaty opposing it. An earlier vote of the executive policy committee — Mayor Sam Katz’s inner circle — returned a split decision.
The fee will go towards future garbage and recycling plans, and won’t be reassessed on residents’ taxes until 2017. Under the new plan, homeowners will receive a new 240-litre rolling garbage cart and a new 240-litre rolling recycling cart to replace the blue boxes. Some Winnipeg neighbourhoods already have the carts, which are meant to reduce the amount of waste ending up in Brady Road Landfill just south of the Perimeter Highway.
As part of the plan, four new waste depots will be established at a cost of $13 million to take in bulky items, electronic waste, and household hazardous waste.
