City of Victoria moving to curbside garbage pickup in September

City of Victoria waste collection crew in the Fernwood neighbourhood on August 17, 2021. (CTV News)

Victoria -

Starting next month, Victoria residents will have to roll their trash to the curb for pickup.

The change comes after council voted to include yard waste in the kitchen scrap composting program. The increased organic waste collection service means that city staff will no longer move waste bins from people’s yards to the garbage trucks, starting Sept. 13.

“Starting next month, residents of Victoria are allowed to put their yard waste in their green bins,” said City of Victoria sustainability manager Rory Tooke. “We heard from residents in terms of what types of services that they would like and we looked at the amount of waste that continues to be sent to the landfill and we found that 10 per cent of that waste is yard waste.”

Tooke says city staff suggested to council that yard waste be collected as part of the kitchen scrap program, thereby ending the unique practice of backyard pickup service.

By removing the service, Victoria residents can now dispose of leaves, branches and grass clippings in bins that, until now, were strictly for organic kitchen scraps.

Prior to the change, residential yard waste could only be disposed of at the City of Victoria public works yard. Residents were only permitted to take the material to the Garbally Road facility on Saturdays between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m.

“When we look at our service change now, we look at the modern elements we consider in making a service change: Is it accessible? Do people who have mobility issues or need a car, can they access yard waste drop-off,” said Tooke. “When we take that balance of things we come up with what the service we are providing now is – a balance of all these objectives we are trying to meet.”

Not only is the city stopping its backyard pickup service for residential refuse, the change will mean the elimination of one member of the “garbage” collection crew.

“There are no job losses with this service change,” said Tooke. “One position from each truck will move and shift into other areas of employment.”

Tooke says by adding yard waste to the kitchen waste pickup program, more organic material will be diverted from the landfill.

For residents of Victoria who may require help bringing their garbage bins to the curb, they can request assistance from the "Helping Hands" service on City of Victoria website. 

“The reason we are asking people to bring (their bins) to the curb is we want to make sure that there are no increases to the user,” said Tooke. “This enhanced service for yard waste comes at no extra cost for the rate payer.”