Waste diversion on rise in Winnipeg

Waste diversion debate A new report at says Winnipeg’s waste diversion rate is climbing, but that doesn’t guarantee that garbage will be picked up on time.

It is the weekly routine.

Garbage bins are emptied into trucks across Winnipeg and the contents end up in the landfill. However, it appears more and more trash is being recycled and composted.

A new report says waste diversion rates in Winnipeg continue to rise. In 2015 the number climbed to 31.4 per cent, a slight increase of 1.7 pre cent from the year before.

The main reason is more yard waste is being collected on the curb for compost – 33,000 thousand tonnes in 2015, an 11 per cent jump from the year before.

That does not surprise resident Alex MacDonald, who sees yard waste bags everywhere.

"We've got these great canopies and in the fall when the leaves come down you see the back lanes just lined with those bags,” MacDonald said.

In 2014, there were 29,109 calls were made to 311 for missed pickups. That number went up to 37,782 in 2015.

“That's disgusting, I mean they shouldn't have brought the system in if they didn't feel they could manage it,” homeowner Sally Moore said.

The report points out the numbers are a far cry from the 55,000 missed collection calls from 2013.

In 2015, Emterra experienced equipment breakdowns in October and November, and in some of the cases calls to 311 should have been recorded as a different type of service request.

Laura Galka said she's never had to phone 311 about her garbage, recycling and yard waste service.

"They're prompt, they usually get it done by at least the end of the day, but usually in the morning and we've never had any problems, no complaints,” she said.

The city spells out future targets in the report as well, a 50 per cent diversion rate by 2020. To do that food scraps will have to be removed from the trash.

The city is still wrestling with a way to collect organics and have homeowners stomach another fee at the same time.

The report also says 388 carts were replaced free of charge last year.