It’s that time of year again, winter. Quinte Waste Solutions offers up some tips to make recycling in these adverse conditions easy.
Keep it on the curb – Never put your blue boxes on top of a snowbank. Our drivers are not permitted to climb snowbanks to retrieve blue boxes. This is a health and safety issue, and a time issue. Our drivers need to make over 900 stops per day, safely.
Keep it to the right – Because of end-of-driveway snowbanks, keep your blue boxes to the curb and to the right of your driveway, so our drivers can see your recycling as they approach.
Heavy on top – Place your heavier materials on top of your blue boxes when wind is likely to be an issue. Put all your glass bottles and jars on top of your paper/fibres box, then put that box on top of your containers box. If you are concerned about high winds blowing your recycling out of your blue box, don’t put it out. Wait until your next collection if possible.
Crush it! – Feel free to crush your cans and bottles down in your containers blue box, and your boxboard down in your paper/fibres box. This saves A LOT of space, and will reduce the possibility of material blowing out of your blue box on windy days.
ICE! – Ice has been an issue this year. Be very careful taking your blue box to the curb. Go slow.
Apartments – Ice has been an issue at recycling depots at apartment buildings. When the recycling carts freeze to the ground, our trucks can not pick them up. Make sure your carts are always free from ice, so that they can be moved.
Bags – We will never collect a garbage bag (black or green). If you need to use bags, make sure they are clear and not tinted. Bags should contain only one product per bag. For example, plastic bottles should all be in one bag. metal containers should all be in another, and so on. We highly recommend Blue Boxes, as we are a blue box program. You will save money, and time.
7AM – You guessed it. Make sure your blue box is to your curb by 7AM on your collection day. Putting your recycling out the night before is fine, but if a large snowfall, wind, or ice event is expected throughout the night, make sure you wait until the morning. These overnight, adverse conditions, can all potentially affect collection.
Broken Blue Boxes – When plastic gets very cold, it tends to break much easier. If you have a broken blue box, you can exchange it for no charge. You must bring your broken blue box with you so that it can be recycled.
If you have any questions, or have more weather tips and tricks. Feel free to contact dan@quinterecycling.org