Bi-weekly garbage pick-up starts in Barrie

By Heather Butts, CTV News Barrie

With the Barrie landfill reaching its limit, change is on the way for resident starting today when the City of Barrie is moving to bi-weekly garbage collection.

As it stand now, by 2035 the landfill would reach capacity, that’s why Mayor Jeff Lehman believes bi-weekly garbage pick-up will extend the life of the land fill by another decade.

“Fifty-eight percent of what we throw out in Barrie can actually be put into a green, blue or grey bin instead and that’s the key thing we’re facing.”

Along with diverting waste, the program will save the city some money annually but the real savings are in the long run.

“If our landfill fills up, we’re going to have to pay $7 million to close it and many millions to truck our garbage to who knows where – maybe Michigan or somewhere else. That’s an enormous cost, that day can be further in the future if our landfill can last longer and that is all about recycling more,” added Lehman.

Over at the local skating rink, a lot of families had lots of opinions about the change.

“I think as much as it’s going to be hard to do, we do need to do it because of the environment,” said one resident.

“I run a home daycare so we get a huge collection of diapers weekly so having that stack up is rather disgusting especially in the summer months,” said Courtney Dunlop.

Lehman admits diapers and pet waste are a concern and council will be looking into it.

The new program means residents will now receive two-bag or two-can garbage pick-up every other week but unlimited organics and recycling will continue to be picked up every week.

“When other cities have made the change they have seen a ten percent shift in diversion because we’re still going to pick up unlimited amounts of blue, green and grey bins.