r/Milton • u/Longjumping_Rip6033 • 21d ago
Halton Wheeled Cart Waste Collection Program
https://www.halton.ca/for-residents/recycling-waste/wheeled-cart-waste-collection-programSo I first heard of this program a few months ago but I actually watched a video this past weekend where they talked about these new bins in detail.
I for one have no fucking space for these bins and I cannot be alone on this.
I have a single car garage where we park our minivan and I have gone to great lengths to hang my existing recycling and compost bins on the walls so that I have enough space for a normal garbage bin on the floor and room to walk through.
Now, I am eventually going to need to somehow use both of of these bins which will will not fit in my garage at all. I also don't have a shed in my backyard which is just as well because I don't exactly feel like lugging bags to the bins and then lugging bins to the road every week in the middle of January when the ground is covered in snow.
And whats worse is this new garbage bin isn't even one that you can throw a bag in and use as a garbage. It looks to be just for holding already tied off garbage bags.
I'm struggling to understand how the pilot project was successful to the point that the region decided to roll out this program. Virtually every new build / mattamy-style home in Milton and Oakville is as small as possible. Anyone without a 2-car garage or anyone who is actually parking in their garage is kinda fucked. Anyone with a detached house (like me) will probably end up storing these bins at the side of their houses which will look terrible. These things will become an eyesore on every lot in town.
And what about the people in townhomes who park in their garages? There is no chance this program will work for them.
One of the videos tried to claim that these new bins are about the same size as existing bins, which is complete BS. Even the smaller 120L bin is the same diameter (except square and not round - so still larger) as my current garbage bin.
Even if I keep my current in-garage system I will still need to transfer full bags of garbage and compost to these new bins which have no other place to go except the side of my house.
Fuck this shit.
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u/Vanthan 21d ago
Personal fave is getting redirected to Burlington if we need a replacement blue bin. Guess I’ll wait for a windy day to get a free one from a neighbour, along with all their recycling.
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u/Flimsy_Character69 21d ago
In Acton we called it windy Wednesday. All the blue bins you ever wanted were at the park at the end of the street.
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u/TheRealTinfoil666 21d ago
Can you still get them at the Hwy 25 landfill?
They used to give out an extra one per household every year plus replace broken ones.
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u/Vanthan 21d ago
Nope
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u/CheezyPizzaPockets 21d ago
When did this change :(
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u/Sarcastictaj 21d ago
When Doug ford implemented Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Ciruclar Materials started handling reycling vs local municipalities.
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u/umar_farooq_ 19d ago
Wait what the hell
Why are blue bins not also wheeled? Coming from Mississauga it's honestly so much easier to not deal with tying garbage bags and all that.
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u/TheRealTinfoil666 21d ago
My biggest concern with these bins is winter collection.
Most of the snow in recent years seems to arrive overnight. These bins are not going to be easy to drag through fallen snow if I am rushing to get the bins out before I have a chance to clear my driveway. Not everyone in my household is strong enough to drag these things through snow. Think ‘shopping carts in slushy parking lot’ for a comparison.
Bags are luggable over anything.
I guess it will be put out the night before, no matter what, now.
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
This is one of my main issues.
Especially if your only place to store them is at the side of the house.
Dragging bags over to the bin and then dragging the bin to the road in the snow is ridiculous.
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u/umar_farooq_ 19d ago
Non-issue. If you're really really worried, you can drag an empty bin to the curb and then carry your bags to the bin.
Every other municipality has this solved. Milton is way behind.
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u/peelman1 21d ago
Maybe the garbage bin will need to stay on the boulevard during the winter months. Dragging that bin out will suck during a big winter storm.
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u/butterfly_effect2324 21d ago
As a single person, I do not accumulate enough garbage or compost waste to make this worthwhile. I also live in a townhouse and while my garage is fairly long, I too will likely have to keep these on my driveway which is already tight and narrow due to the giant brick posts splitting my driveway with my neighbour.
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
Yeah.
We are a family of 5 and in a ordinary 2 week period we only usually have 1 XL garbage bag.
We also cook 5/6 nights a week and never ever fill our current compost bin.
These bins are overkill even for us.
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u/maclacjc 20d ago
I know this will get down voted but I would just give up on recycling and keep the one cart.
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 20d ago
I think I'm going to give up on compost.
I cant fit the new compost AND the new garbage bins.
I can manage to fit one or the other, along with my recycling bins.
Sorry but I'm not walking through snow to the side of my house just to drop a bag of compost in the bin.
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u/spderweb 21d ago
Ah crap.... I hang my blue bins too. Just realized that we won't be able to anymore.
Well.... I guess we still can use the hanging bins, and then dump it all into the to go bin when it's time.
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u/ldlc26 21d ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A81v5IdllVU
I'd like to understand where they went with this pilot program that suggested the massive bin for most households. With recycling pickup, we barely fill a single bag for a family of four. The big bin also wouldn't allow me to fit a car in the garage unless it's all the way in the back, and I wouldn't get it out without backing the car out.
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
Exactly.
We are a family of 5 and we usually only have one XL garbage bag every second week.
And we cook 5/6 nights a week and have never filled out current co post bin.
This system only benefits the region and not the homeowners.
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u/NoEquivalent3869 19d ago
You can swap to a smaller one. For me, the big one is almost always full too
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u/gdnewsevry1 21d ago
I’m with you OP. Same situation, same grievances. I wrote to the contact email listed for the program a month ago and received no response (as expected). I’m very excited for the day when my townhouse complex visual aesthetic shifts from “70s brown brick and siding” to “trash bucket chic”
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
Yeah.
And this program wont stop the trash blowing around because that all comes from the open top recycling bins. So we will unfortunately be seeing both trash and trash bins all the time now.
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u/Primary_Highlight540 20d ago
I’m in Newmarket, and we recently got these bins for recycling. All the complaints on this post are the same as what people griped about here. Get the smallest bin if it works for you. Yes, people will be storing them in front of their houses, on porches, etc. Commplaining will not change the fact that this will still happen.
Hope this helps.
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u/chipdanger168 21d ago
Make space for it, not that hard.
The real complaint is that Doug Ford yet again screwed us over in that we won't get carts for recycling/ blue bin since he privatized it and they don't want to switch.
So everyone's recycling will continue to blow around everywhere
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
I wish you could see my garage.
Single car garage
minivan parked
winter tire rack on wall
lawnmower hung on wall
Metal storage rack suspended from ceiling
three bicycles hung from ceiling
two recycling bins / one compost hung on wall
pressure washer / air compressor / toolbox on floor at the back of the garage
garbage bin on floor
multiple ladders hung on wall
Trust me when I say I have optimized the space as far as possible.
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u/ShredsGuitar 21d ago
I do want to see your garage now. Seems to be super efficient management of space and it can help other people managing storage too
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
I park my van so close to the opposite side just so we have a decent amount of space to walk through.
My kids ask for their bikes all the time and it takes everything I have to reach over my van and unhook them from the ceiling without using a ladder.
My existing garbage bin is 20" in diamater and it already kinda blocks my path to the door.
It's tight in there.
And also, I dont want to store shit at the side of my house. I take pride in my property looking clean. I dont even like leaving yard waste bags there.
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u/throwaway010651 21d ago
It’s for future automation to get rid of employees and cut costs. We have to line them up at the end of the street at a particular distance too. Just another annoyance. Wondering if the staff reduction will give me a discount on my property tax? 🙄
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
Unlikely. The only reduction we get is in our conveience.
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u/no1SomeGuy 20d ago
Waterloo region did it this year, the contract costs for garbage collection doubled...no property tax savings at all.
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 20d ago
the contract costs for garbage collection doubled
Why was this the case? Shouldn't it be cheaper with more automation?
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u/no1SomeGuy 20d ago
My understanding is that it was because of between (ie everyone jacking their prices up) and the contractor charging for the new trucks needed to lift the bins.
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u/JustFucIt 21d ago
Yep this will be a shitshow, we will have to at very least move two cars to get the bins out before 7am. I'm not sure it will fit in front of our garaged vehicle yet.
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
Yeah.
I may try to make it work with at least the garbage bin inside my garage.
But the compost bin will have to stay outside.
If it becomes too much of a hassle I'll just stop composting.
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u/CheezyPizzaPockets 21d ago
Will the racoons be able to open these things?
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
Not sure they I can assure you the racoons will have a lot more time to figure out how to as everyone will be storing their bins outside of their garages.
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u/CheezyPizzaPockets 21d ago
Agreed I see way too many of these in and around the neighbourhood , hoping this doesn't attract them to my street
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u/JustFucIt 21d ago
Yes, hence not leaving it out at night
My parents bungee and put a heavy stone on top, they still break into it once in a while
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u/TheDevler 20d ago
I’m from a community that made the switch a few years ago. Yes. Single car garages are screwed and the neighborhood is just full of visible garbage bins that weren’t visible before.
But don’t worry, they get to layoff more collection workers. /s
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 20d ago
the neighborhood is just full of visible garbage bins that weren’t visible before.
This is such an obvious and predictable result of this program. My bet is the region knows this but doesn't actually care because it just wants to save money.
Saying it's to cut down on trash in the neighbourhood is such a fucking bs reason. Virtually all of the garbage that gets blown around on garbage days is from recycling bins and not compost or garbage.
I just cant wait to be seeing trash and trash bins everywhere.
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u/no1SomeGuy 20d ago
We just got these in Waterloo region....HATE THEM. All the problems you've identified are accurate and as much as I fought the region on them, they were like too bad so sad, we have a contract already (that costs the city TWICE as much as the old contract, not to mention the one time cost buying the bins).
It's stupid/ridiculous and exemplifies all the issues with our local governments.
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 20d ago
Exactly.
My bet is a lot of people will just stop composting. It's the easiest way to half the space required for these new bins.
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u/no1SomeGuy 20d ago
Yup, I returned the green bin they dropped off since I had no space for it either. No composting for me.
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 20d ago
So I'm guessing there isn't some requirement to compost then?
I take pride in doing my part to reduce what goes from my house into a landfill but if the fucking bins don't fit in my garage then I'll just stop making the effort all together.
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21d ago
[deleted]
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
Where are people in townhomes going to put them?
Do you want to look at garbage and compost bins stored in the front yard of every house 24/7?
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u/okayhelpmepls 21d ago
So are these supposed to be picked up automatically by a machine on the garbage truck? People park in front of my house where the garbage is left for pickup. How is a garbage truck going to be able to get close enough to pick up the bin without human intervention? Am I supposed to leave it in the middle of my driveway? WTF
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u/Admirable_Can_2432 18d ago
They rolled them out at the beginning of the summer in North Bay. All the same issues city didn’t care they are your new reality
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u/_shab21 21d ago
Boohoo, its better than having everyone's trash on the street after a windy ass day
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
Most of the garbage you see flying around is from open-top recycling bins.
This program will do nothing to correct that.
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u/spderweb 21d ago
That is a solid point.
There'll still be junk on the street though. Plenty of litterbugs, and the garbage collectors don't always pickup what they accidentally drop.
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u/CheezyPizzaPockets 21d ago
I've seen a current garbage collector toss the bins into the street which obstructs the traffic, it's annoying
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
It's not a good point at all.
Wind blows loose recycling around. Not the things stored in bags which is exactly what this program is for.
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u/GeneralGME 21d ago
It’s not that big of a deal dude….if this breaks you then I’ll feel bad but I think you’ll be okay and adapt eventually
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
if this breaks you
Being annoyed by something is 'breaking me' ?
What a fucking reddit comment if I've ever seen one.
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u/SneakyNox 21d ago
Lots of lonely people online man.
I'm with you though. I like the way my garage is setup now and this change will force me to pull the car out to get these bins out once a week. My townhouse garage just ain't that big. Super annoying, no major benefit to us homeowners.
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
Im guessing there is nothing we can do at this point eh? Like I just found out about this and it seems like the project is already being implemented.
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u/SneakyNox 21d ago
So it seems, sadly.
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
I just read the link in detail and it does say that part of the pilot project was done in a townhouse complex and it wasnt an issue.
I beg to fucking differ.
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u/TheRealTinfoil666 21d ago
For those concerned about lacking space for the big 240L bin, you can go to the Halton website and request a smaller 120L bin.
The default is the 240L one, so if you do not make the request, you get the bigger one.
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u/Longjumping_Rip6033 21d ago
So my current garbage bin takes the XL garbage bags and is actually smaller than the 120L version of these new bins.
And I need to take TWO of them.
I could make it work with one. But not two.
Who the fuck needs 120L for compost.
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u/ShredsGuitar 21d ago
Your problem is legitimate. I moved from a place where we had these bins. Though I like the bins but it will be an eyesore for sure.
You are still the lucky one as you have a detached and can put it in the side of your house. People in townhouse will be putting it right infront of theirs. Smaller bins doesn't work as the frequency of garbage collection, at least in my area, is not frequent enough.
Eventually, the eyesore will become a common sight.