CORNER BROOK, N.L. —
Diane Crocker
The Western Star
Western Regional Waste Management is dropping its free residential drop-off days and instead giving residents a $25 account credit to access its six facilities in the region any time they like.
Josh Carey, chair of the Western Regional Service Board, said the decision was made after the board looked at different models for residential drop-offs.
It had heard the weekday model used by the previous board didn’t work and there were challenges even with the Saturdays it had offered last spring and fall.
“They were not working,” said Carey.
Saturday drop-offs at the Wild Cove site on the north shore highway within the City of Corner Brook saw massive lineups of residents from Corner Brook and the surrounding area. Carey said that created a safety concern.
“When you have vehicles that are lined up on the highway, trying to access a service because those are the only days that it’s free, that becomes a challenge for us as well when we have to deal with the safety side of it.”
So, the board decided to issue a $25 credit to residents for all its sites.
“And then the individual can access the service at their convenience, whenever they want with that $25,” he said. “You go now as you wish to go. You decide when you want to access that service.”
To be eligible for the credit resident’s accounts must be in good standing — paid in full, with a zero balance. The credit will only be available once in 2020
New account holders will see a $25 starter credit, in lieu of the $10 that had been offered.
The cost to the waste management authority to offer the credit will be about $155,000.
Also new at the Wild Cove and Bay St. George sites are hydraulic gates at the exit. Users now have to stop so that a transfer station employee can speak with them, if necessary.
Users will have the opportunity to discuss their account, make payments via debit or credit card or ask any questions regarding the Sort-It Western program.
The gates are similar to a control arm at an airport parking lot, preventing people from leaving until the arm is lifted.
How it was done
Western Regional Waste Management offered free residential drop-off at its six sites twice in 2019 — four days in June and two in October.
About 1,100 tonnes of scanned material with an uncharged value of $175,000 was dropped off.
However, many vehicles were waved through because of the number of people coming to the sites and that data is not recorded.
Western Regional Waste Management estimates the actual value for uncharged material for that time to be closer to $200,000.
Source: Western Regional Waste Management
Twitter: WS_DianeCrocker
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