THUNDER BAY — As city residents continue to get used to the new recycling bins, apartment and condo buildings are still trying to determine the best course of action.
John Janssen, manager of maintenance and works for Synergy Property Management Solutions, said it has been a nightmare.
Janssen said they are concerned about the end user and trying to make it as seamless as possible for them.
"The end user is usually the one to suffer the most because you have older people who don’t have the strength in their upper body to even lift the lid.
“We’ve even had an incident where someone has fallen backwards after putting something in one of the bins, and injured themselves.”
Janssen said they were given the option of carts, which were distributed to residential homes, or large bins, however the buildings were not designed with those facilities in place.
“With the limitations of the GFL — they have tried to accommodate as best as they can. But with only two options of carts or bins, in some cases neither of them work,” he said.
Janssen said his office has been flooded with calls from people unhappy about the situation. In a lot of cases it's well beyond their control.
“It’s been rough for everybody. I think it’s something that was imposed without really getting in touch with people at the ground level.”
Janssen said they’re at about a 50-per-cent margin now where there is adequate space for recycling.
For example, one of the buildings has 60 units and only eight recycling bins.
“As time goes on, we’re trying to iron out the wrinkles. We thought we would be done with this by the end of July, but it seems to be an ongoing issue.
“I wish everything would have been planned out better. I wish there were other options. It appears that some of the properties where we thought we had things settled are now running into issues.”
Moving to a private company for recycling in places where it’s not an option to have carts or bins is an idea that’s being "kicked around" by corporations, he said.
“This is just overwhelming. Without meeting with people who would have to deal with this and just implementing it, seems like the wrong way of going about it to me. I think it could have been planned out a little better,” Janssen said, adding that they’ve been working closely with GFL to find solutions.
Circular Materials responded with a statement via email.
"Circular Materials is pleased to report that the transition to wheeled recycling carts in Thunder Bay has been progressing well . . . We are committed to ensuring a seamless transition for all Thunder Bay residents.
"This includes working with our collection partner to deliver a recycling program that reflects the needs of residents and the community."
GFL has not returned numerous requests for an interview or offered a comment.
This story was updated at 3:15 p.m. on Monday to include a comment from Circular Materials.
