Free garbage totes coming to all of C-K

Attention crows: The fall buffet in Chatham is coming to an end.

Progressive Waste Solutions officials say the company, which has the curbside garbage pick-up contract with Chatham-Kent, plans on offering free garbage totes to every home in the municipality.

Wes Muir, director of public and government relations for the company, said trial efforts in Tilbury and Wallaceburg were very successful, leading to Progressive’s plan to expand it across the municipality.

With the totes placed right at the curb, the truck can come along and the driver can let the automated system grab the tote and dump it into the truck, all without getting out of the cab.

Muir said widespread distribution of the totes is a win for everyone, from crow haters to the company – which is footing the bill for all the totes – and especially its staff.

“This is being done mainly for safety reasons. It protects our staff and protects the public,” he said.

Traditional waste collection sees a crew have a driver and at least one rear packer.

“We remove the rear packer – the guy taking the materials and throwing them into the back of the hopper. Now, there’s one person; that person is in the cab.”

He said rear packers are pretty exposed at a time when distracted driving is a serious concern.

“It’s not just in Chatham-Kent, but for us across North America. Distracted driving is a big issue. There have been cases where people aren’t paying attention. The guy in the back (of the waste vehicle) is focused on picking up the waste.”

For Progressive, going with just the driver instead of having to add a packer to the crew is a significant human resources savings.

“It increases our productivity. It’s one person using the automated system,” Muir said.

Meanwhile, the crows, who declined to comment on the matter, will have fewer garbage bags to rip apart each week for their fall and winter smorgasbord in Chatham.

Carts Ahoy, a Chatham company that sells, rents and repairs waste totes, is part of the Junctura Group. CEO Rocky Gaudrault praised Progressive for supplying the carts to residences in the municipality that have curbside pickup, calling the move “a good idea for the community. From a Carts Ahoy perspective, there already is stuff in place. This will be complimentary to what we have.”

While it will impact sales and rentals for Carts Ahoy in Chatham, Gaudrault said it could open doors as well.

“As far as Carts Ahoy is concerned, we’ll probably get more into the maintenance side,” he said of the business in regards to Chatham-Kent. “We hope to work with Progressive on this.”

Gaudrault said Carts Ahoy is still picking up new clients and is also working to expand into other communities in Ontario.

“What’s happening here is only a small portion of what our goals are,” he said.

Muir doesn’t have a timeline on when the garbage totes would be available across the municipality yet.

He said each tote will come with instructions in terms of where and how to place them at the curbside.

“We like them to put them at the bottom of the driveway,” he said. “What we did in Tilbury and Wallaceburg was put instructions in the carts.”