Winnipeg ponders wheeled trash carts

Homeowners in northwest Winnipeg could soon be rolling their trash to the curb.

City council's public works committee is holding a special meetingFriday to discuss outfitting more than 42,000 homes in the city's northwest quadrant with wheeled carts that would be rolled to the front curb or lane on garbage pickup days.

The carts would replacetraditional garbage cans and save the city money because they can be emptied by one person operating a truck designed specifically to lift and dump them.

It would cost the city $2 million to supply one cart to each of the 42,000 homes targeted for the pilot project.

Darryl Drohomerski, the city's manager of solid waste, said each cart would hold the same amount as three regular garbage cans.

He said the carts would also eliminate the need for garbage bags because homeowners could just dumploose trash into the cart.

Like 2 bags a week

"Our studies have shown that the majority of people, the vast majority of people, put out less than two bags of garbage per week," he said. "So, by giving everyone a cart, we will essentially trade them their two bags of garbage, or two old garbage cans, for one cart."

Because there would only be one person emptying the carts on pickup days, the city would not collect any garbage left besidethe carts.

At present, garbage collectors typically throw other objects left at the side of trash cans into the garbage trucks.

Many other Canadian cities, includingBrandon, Man., Saskatoon and Regina, use the wheeled carts.

The recommendation of the public works committee will be sentto city council for a vote next week. If the project is approved and works well in northwest Winnipeg, it willlikely be extended to other parts of the city in the future, Drohomerski said.