New garbage-sorting program in Moncton introduces 3rd bag

People who live in Moncton and southeast New Brunswick will soon be sorting their garbage into three bags instead of just two.

Beginning Oct. 24 residents of Westmorland and Albert counties will be asked to shift from the wet-dry program, that saw everything placed in either a green or blue bag to a new sorting program that includes a clear bag for garbage.

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Roland LeBlanc, director of solid waste for Southeast eco360, formerly the Westmorland Albert Solid Waste Commission, said blue bags will be for recyclables, green for compost and a clear bag will be for everything else.

"We're going to ask people to do the best they can in sorting," LeBlanc said on Information Morning Moncton.

"We know they're not going to be perfect in the beginning. This system is a lot more forgiving — you can make mistakes and we'll pick up your bags anyway."

​LeBlanc explained one of the big reasons for the third clear bag, which will go directly to the landfill, is to make more room in the sorting facility to accept blue and green bags from apartments and businesses, who currently don't take part in the blue–green program.

We know they're not going to be perfect in the beginning.- Roland LeBlanc, Southeast eco360 director of solid waste

"This change will allow us to increase the capacity of our plants and bring the apartments and the businesses into the program. It'll help increase diversion so basically it's better for the region," he said.

Participation in the garbage-sorting program continues to be voluntary for apartments and businesses, but LeBlanc said an incentive is being offered in the form of a discount on tipping fees to encourage landlords to take part.

"What we're planning to do for Jan. 1 is what goes to the landfill would be charged $85 a ton and what would go to the recycling facility and the compost facility would be $75 a ton."

Alternate weeks for pick-up

The extra bag means pick-up for blue bags and clear bags will alternate on a weekly basis, while green bags will continue to be collected every week.

Gena Alderson, waste diversion coordinator with Southeast eco360, said it's necessary because the trucks that are used to collect residential garbage are split into two sections.​

"It's basically how we can collect three different bags with the system that we have now without adding trucks and adding costs," she said.

A sorting guide will be sent to all homes this week including a calendar outlining which week's clear bags will be collected and which week's blue bags will be collected. 

Under the new system blue bags will be for paper products, plastic, cardboard, metal, electronic waste and stryofoam while the green bags will be restricted to organic waste.

​"So food waste and yard waste mainly — everything else can be placed in the third bag," LeBlanc said.

"If you're not sure you can put it in the third bag."

More bags means less in landfill

Even though clear bags will go directly to the landfill, LeBlanc expects the new system to reduce the amount going to the landfill and increase recyclables.

"Right now under the blue-green system about 30 to 50 per cent of what is collected in blue bags is not recyclable and not compostable," he said. 

"It contaminates our recyclabes and it makes it difficult to get into the recyclables ... We'll be getting better quality material, more recyclables in the blue bag."

Taking garbage out of the blue and green bags will also allow for a higher grade of compost because glass, which belongs in the clear bag since there is no market to recycle it, will be kept out of the green bags.

LeBlanc hopes the new program will eventually double the amount of recyclables collected every year.