St. Margarets Bay residents want to put blue bags in blue bins

People in the St. Margarets Bay, N.S., area want recycling regulations changed to allow their blue bags to be picked up if they are put out inside plastic containers.

Nick Horne, the chair of the St. Margaret's Bay Stewardship Association, said bins are a necessity for residents.

"We've got a flock of ravens that absolutely knows what to do when they see a blue bag," said Horne. "They tear it open and it blows all over the neighbourhood."

Horne has lived in the Westwood Hills area for more than a decade.

But in 2019, for the first time, his blue bin got a rejection sticker.

Horne said he doesn't understand why haulers can pull garbage bags — which are often heavier — out of containers, but will not do the same for recyclables

"It's unreasonable," said Horne. "It's promoting pollution."

Senior Janice Timberlake, who also lives in the St. Margarets Bay area, is also upset with how blue bags are being dealt with.

"We have been a neighbourhood that has recycled to the nth degree, but people are just going to say, 'I'm not going to do that anymore and they are going to end up with a lot more in the landfill,'" she said.

According to the head of Halifax's solid waste division, Andrew Philopoulos, the recycling bylaw has been in place for 20 years and it stipulates that blue bags must be placed curbside, unlike the rules for the garbage stream, which allow the use of receptacles.

Philopoulos said the trucks picking up blue bags are not equipped to pick up blue bins, which can be the size of the green carts used for compost, and are too deep for workers.

"Residents are buying blue carts that are four to five feet tall and those are meant to be tipped by automation," he said. "Our blue-bag program is completely based on picking up a bag curbside."

But the muncipality's overall system is under review. In January, regional council asked solid waste officials to investigate switching to one that uses black and blue bins for garbage and recycling, respectively.

According to Philopoulos, a report with recommendations should be ready for council by the end of 2019.