Stricter rules when yard waste sites reopen May 4

By Jensen, Randy on April 23, 2020.

The City of Lethbridge will be opening its seasonal yard waste sites and reopen the public drop-off area at the Waste and Recycling Centre starting May 4. Herald photo by Ian Martens @IMartensHerald

Tim Kalinowski

Lethbridge Herald

tkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com

The City will open its seasonal yard waste sites and reopen the public drop-off area at the Waste and Recycling Centre as of May 4.

New restrictions will be imposed on customers using the sites to ensure proper physical distancing is being followed, says the City’s Waste and Recycling Services general manager Joel Sanchez, including having public safety officers on site to enforce these measures.

Key changes will be strict limits on customers allowed into the public drop-off area at the Waste and Recycling Centre to two at a time. And customers will only be allowed to drop off their materials on a strictly self-serve basis. At yard waste sites, says Sanchez, they will only be accepting paper bags and not plastic. There will also be a two-person limit, (one at the chipper and one at the compactor), and drop-offs will also be self-serve only.

Sanchez says if the community follows the new rules laid out at both the yard waste sites and public drop-off areas at the Waste and Recycling Centre, which will again include access to the hazardous household materials drop-off area, there should be little risk to the public and to City staff managing the sites.

“We want to limit the amount of people at the site,” Sanchez states. “But now with the good weather we are having, we’re seeing the need to open the sites. We believe if we are able to keep the two metres between the staff and customers and between customers, we should be able to provide the services now. We also need residents to do their part. They need to make sure when they go to the sites they follow all the rules we have in place.”

Sanchez emphasizes the reopening of the public drop-off area at the Waste and Recycling Centre should not be treated like an opportunity for an afternoon excursion to alleviate boredom.

“We ask residents to only use the sites if they really need to,” he stresses. “This is not an opportunity to get out of the house and to go out outside only with one bag. We ask they only use the site when they need to.”

The Waste and Recycling Centre public drop-off area will remain closed on Saturdays for the time being, and be open starting on May 4 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. All regular tipping fees apply, but customers will not be able to pay with cash, only debit or credit.

The City’s yard waste sites will be open starting on May 4, and the public access hours will be Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Those wishing more information on the changes or on new restrictions at the sites are encouraged to call 311.

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