The Island Waste Management Corporation (IWMC) reminds Islanders that the annual Spring Cleanup Period is approaching and, with it, new improvements to improve flexibility for customers.
“The annual Spring Cleanup is a chance for Islanders to dispose of excess material above and beyond regular household collections,” says Ron MacKinley, Minister Responsible for IWMC. “This year will see some improvements to Spring Cleanup that will enhance and expand services for customers.”
The main difference for customers during this year’s Spring Cleanup has to do with metals collection. Small, household metal items can now be disposed of as part of regular blue bag collections along with other recyclable items. This change allows greater opportunity for metal items to be collected and recycled throughout the year. This change also allows the metals week of Spring Cleanup to be replaced with an extra week of compost collection, giving customers two weeks to dispose of excess yard and garden material along with other compost items.
Another change being implemented this year will see Spring Cleanup items collected on the same weekly schedule throughout the province. In past years, Spring Cleanup collections were staggered by geographic zone. This year’s Spring Cleanup will begin with a compost week starting on Monday, May 3. This will be followed by a waste week beginning on Monday, May 10, and will finish with a second compost week beginning on Monday, May 17.
The collection ban on excess yard and garden material will start on April 19, so any excess yard and garden material placed curbside will not be collected until the week of May 3 when Spring Cleanup starts. This temporary suspension allows for these items to be collected more efficiently during the cleanup period and avoid any service delays for regular household collections created by increased volume of material. Customers are also reminded that excess yard and garden material placed at curbside should be placed in either compostable paper yard bags or reusable open, rigid containers. This helps divert thousands of plastic bags from being buried at landfill each year.
“These changes being made to our Spring Cleanup reflect feedback from our customers on ways to make the Waste Watch program more flexible but still achieve our goals of reducing waste volumes and diverting more materials from landfill in a cost effective, environmentally responsible way,” said Gerry Moore, CEO of IWMC.
More information about Spring Cleanup, including collection guidelines, can be found online at www.iwmc.pe.ca or by contacting the toll free IWMC Customer Service Line at 1-888-280-8111.