New format for heavy garbage collection in Cape Breton deemed an early success

It’s heavy garbage week in Cape Breton.

Whether it’s someone’s old recliner, a gently-used barbecue or a stranger’s comfortable couch - you can sometimes find interesting things curbside during heavy garbage season in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

“Everyone’s checking it out,” said Daniel MacLeod of Sydney, N.S., who adds one person’s trash is another’s treasure. “It’s something that I can’t stop myself from, when I’m walking down the road.”

Though the annual pickup of heavier, bulkier trash items is only for one week this year, MacLeod has still come across some interesting finds during his travels around town.

“I told that to a friend of mine, he said he needed a fridge,” MacLeod recalled. “(I said), ‘Go down the road’, (and) I’m not lying to you, there was a brand new fridge just down here, right? Thrown out. I don’t think the stove was good, but the fridge was good.”

CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke said so far, the new single-week format seems to be a success.

“We have 125 pieces of equipment out there, hundreds of workers,” said Clarke. “It’s been a phenomenal uptake so far, over 2,000 tonnes already collected.”

In past years, the pickup lasted a lot longer, however the idea this time was to get rid of all the clutter before the spring visitors come.

“It was very important for us to have a clean, green community in advance of our tourism season and cruise ships arriving and that’s why we put this intensive effort in,” Clarke said.

A lot of streets are empty now as the garbage has been picked up and hauled away.

“And then out of nowhere, it’s gone, it’s clean,” MacLeod said. “Everything on this whole road is clean. They wiped her (sic) up clean, so they did the work good.”

CBRM council has considered getting rid of this rite of spring in the past to save money, but heavy garbage pickup remains to try and cut down on illegal dumping.

While the bigger items at the curb should be gone by the weekend, Clarke added the annual Great Cape Breton Cleanup is planned for Saturday to deal with some of the everyday, smaller garbage that remains.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page