The routes throughout Nanaimo are being adjusted to ease the burden and time constraints on waste collection vehicles. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

at the curb

Waste collection schedules to change as City optimizes routes

Nov 14, 2020 | 6:59 AM

NANAIMO — How landfill waste and recyclables are collected across Nanaimo is changing to ease the burden on trucks.

Instead of the City’s fleet of trucks collecting just landfill and organics one week and then recycling and organics the next, they’ll soon be divided in half to collect both.

Taaj Daliran, manager of Sanitation and Recycling, told Nanaimo councillors this won’t impact how often waste at the curb is collected.

“Right now, every day we send nine trucks out and they go to the same (area), each collecting garbage on one route and the next week they collect recyclables. Soon, every day we’re going to collect from two different areas. One area we’re going to collect recyclables and in the other we’ll collect landfill waste.”

Daliran said the new service is expected to begin on Jan. 25, 2021, following a transition and education period.

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The change is expected to reduce overtime costs by simplifying how the collected waste is deposited.

“At the end of every day nine or 10 trucks go to the disposal facility,” Daliran said. “By separating them in half, it shortens the lineup times and the amount of time we’re waiting to dispose of our materials.”

Trucks are making more visits to the disposal facilities, especially those collecting recyclable materials, due to an increase in waste left at the curb from online purchases and deliveries.

Daliran noted 24 routes throughout Nanaimo were collected one day later than scheduled each month since May due to the increased workload seen since the beginning of the pandemic.

The City is purchasing one new automated garbage truck to handle the increase and reduce delays, but it’s not expected to arrive until 2022. Hiring a refuse collector will be fast tracked from July 2022 to January 2021.

The change will also lead to waste collection user fees rising $6 per household in 2021.

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