Dear Editor:
The “green bin” aspect of recycling is a 100% commendable undertaking by Wellington County. This program not only extends the life of our waste disposal facilities, but also puts this otherwise unusable garbage to a second viable life.
Commendations too for the efforts the waste collection employees put into this new endeavour. There are times when this new component to their job must not be the most pleasant task, but they do their job to the best of their ability in sometimes the harshest of weather.
There is one aspect of the program which must be frustrating to the collecting staff. To the general public, what we see are dark stains and trails of excrement from the green bins on the roadway several days after the pickup. My biggest concern besides the look of the roadway is the fact that this residue is a breeding ground and food supply for flies and other unwanted insects and rodents.
I am left wondering if the county put the cart before the inevitable horse. It seems that the desire to participate more fully in the benefits of recycling was undermined by the failure to ensure the trucks and equipment were in place to handle this quasi-liquid waste properly.
To ensure worker safety in this COVID endangered age, I don’t believe staff should be required to physically handle and dispose of this waste manually. Spills and leakage is inevitable given the current protocol. Coming recently from another county, collection of this sort is handled mechanically by trucks with appendages so that the driver never has to leave his/her cab.
Bravo for the initiative! Let’s be sure that we treat the folks that do the work are safe, and our streets are sanitary and clean in the aftermath.
Ron Johnson,
Mount Forest
