October 23, 2023, marked the significant first anniversary milestone for the City of Saint John’s transformed solid waste collection service, Waste Wise. The program which began rolling out in October 2022, included the introduction of curbside recycling collection, limits on collection of subsidized garbage, continued collection of compost, service efficiency and employee safety improvements, as well as programs tailored to the needs of our residents and unique neighbourhoods.

Waste Wise had three initial targets:

1. Environmental: Reduce the amount of garbage that ends up in the landfill by 15%.
2. Financial: Introduce a brand-new curbside recycling collection program without requiring investment from higher property taxes.
3. Safety and Efficiency: Introduce mechanical lifting of garbage that reduces repetitive lifting and increases productivity.

“The success of Waste Wise is attributed largely to the introduction of curbside recycling and the caps in place for garbage that residents can put out. This has encouraged people to embrace the program. A huge thank you to the community for participating and adapting. These results were achieved with your commitment.” – Tim O’Reilly, Director of Public Works, City of Saint John

At the one-year mark, here are some of the significant results of the program:

• Over 4,000 tonnes of garbage, down by 37%, have been diverted from the landfill. This is an estimated 300,000 garbage bags diverted.
• 13% of household solid waste was diverted to the new Recycling Stream.
• Compost usage increased by 39% compared to the prior three years, contributing to approximately 25% of the diverted garbage.
• The brand-new curbside recycling collection program was successfully introduced without requiring investment from higher property taxes due to:2023 Tipping Fee Savings: $260,000
•  2023 Bag Tag Revenues: $238,000
• Doubling the usage of existing equipment, rather than investing in new. The same fleet of garbage trucks are used to collect garbage and compost by day, then recycling at night.

The combination of savings from landfill tipping fees and revenues from bag tags is going towards paying back the City’s $3 million capital investment. Additionally, the efforts of Saint John residents in reducing garbage tonnage in the last year has aided in extending the life of the current Crane Mountain Landfill.

Safety and efficiency targets were met by introducing the use of mechanical lifting devices on City garbage trucks and a complete shift to single-person garbage trucks.

For more information on the Waste Wise program visit www.saintjohn.ca/wastewise.