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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday May 25, 2007 - 7 GreenCart rolling region-wide before 2010 By Melanie Hennessey SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Halton's GreenCart program took a major step toward going region-wide Wednesday. After hearing from several local residents and groups largely in favour of the program, Halton Region's planning and public works committee supported taking the GreenCart from a small pilot project to homes across Halton. The motion also calls for weekly GreenCart and Blue Box collection and biweekly garbage collection with a six-bag limit. Currently garbage is collected weekly with a six-bag limit and recycling is picked up bi-weekly. If the resolution is approved by regional council next week, it means residents throughout Halton will have the opportunity to put their kitchen scraps out separately at the curb in a GreenCart for collection as early as next year. These scraps would then be turned to compost. Oakvillegreen, the newly formed Miltongreen and Protect Our Water and Environmental Resources (POWER) all voiced support for the GreenCart initiative. But, they weren't so happy with the six-bag limit for garbage. "We feel the garbage bag limit should not exceed two bags bi-weekly," said Gillian Earle of Miltongreen. "Garbage bags should also be clear and if recyclable material is visible in these bags they should not be collected." Oakvillegreen president Liz Benneian shared similar sentiments. "The see-through bags allow for the new community standard of recycling whatever possible to take effect, with neighbours being able to see what their neighbours are doing and community pressure leading people to adopt recycling to keep step," she said. Barbara Halsall noted that POWER also supports bi-weekly garbage pick-up and weekly Blue Box and GreenCart collection. Another person who spoke in favour of the GreenCart was Sierra Club waste diversion campaigner Rod Muir, noting that there's only one rule for success when it comes to waste -- "keep it separate." "Food scraps are the next logical step," he said. But, not everyone was so positive about the GreenCart. Jim Harding of the Milton Rural Residents Association told the committee that he recently drove around his neighbourhood, which is in the GreenCart pilot project, and saw that only 17 of the estimated 90 homes had their GreenCarts out. "It does raise concerns for me in terms of the participation rate," he remarked. Milton Ward 3 Councillor Jan Mowbray also reported that she has been contacted by a considerable number of residents in her ward and the vast majority are opposed to the GreenCart. She also said while she doesn't necessarily have a problem with GreenCarts, she doesn't support them in her rural area because of the large amount of composters already there. After hearing from the residents, the councillors in attendance further dis- cussed the GreenCart. Milton Wards 1 and 3 Councillor Barry Lee asked if certain parts of municipalities can be exempt . Commissioner of Planning and Public Works Peter Crockett said while the issue of service levels is currently established at the local municipal level, staff is looking at whether the Region's waste bylaw should be altered so those decisions are made by regional council. "There are many areas in Halton that aren't suitable for this program," said Lee. Oakville Councillor Tom Adams put forward an amendment to the motion to include an option to reduce garbage to a three-bag limit in the future and have staff report back at the appropriate time. "This gives us flexibility to see how we do with six," he said. "I think it's a reasonable approach." Many councillors around the table voiced their support for Adams' suggestion. But Burlington Councillor Jack Dennison's suggestions didn't go over as well. He proposed having a three clear bag limit reduced to two by January 2009. Any bags beyond that would cost $2 each. In the end, he was the only councilor who voted in favour of his proposal. A region-wide GreenCart program is expected to cost $6 million per year, or about $26.50 for the average household based on a $300,000 assessment. Provided everything is given the go-ahead Wednesday by regional council, staff will then report back with an implementation strategy for the GreenCart in the fall. The strategy will also include a plan to introduce garbage bag tags for bags that exceed the limit of six. The timing of the program rollout hasn't been firmed up yet. Director of Waste Management Rob Rivers said the Region is gearing up for a new waste collection and processing contact that would start early next year. An aggressive timeline for the GreenCart could be implemented by the end of 2008. 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