WAWA — Timing is key if you’re looking to dispose of waste in Wawa.
At their regular council meeting on Jan. 16, the Wawa municipal council reviewed a report from the acting director of Infrastructure Services, Rebecca Weatherall, recommending that Wawa’s waste disposal site undergo some service changes.
The biggest change brought to the table is a reduction in hours of operation.
Instead of operating Tuesday to Saturday, Weatherall’s report suggested that residents and the municipality can get the most out of their waste disposal site by limiting days open to Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday – with hours from 9:30 am - 3:30pm.
These changes would not take effect until after the Victoria Day long weekend.
“We’re looking to maybe start this after the May two-four weekend just because that’s a pretty monumental day – seems to be the start of summer, so with the season change we’re looking to move forward with that,” Weatherall said.
Being open fewer days a week would allow the municipality to concentrate on the number of hours open per day.
The disposal site is usually open four hours a day through the week and eight hours on Saturday.
Once the recommended changes are implemented, however, time would be distributed evenly over the three days when the disposal site would be open for a total of six hours.
Weatherall and her team examined the use of waste disposal sites across 20 different municipalities and communities in the region – including Nipigon, Marathon, Terrace Bay, and Hornepayne – in an effort to determine how Wawa’s waste disposal habits stacked up to communities of a similar size and who deal with seasonal tourism.
Based on the communities surveyed, only one community other than Wawa is open five days per week in winter – and, Wawa’s waste disposal site is open for more hours on average than any of the other sites reviewed.
Weatherall’s report also recommended that municipal council review refuse collection by-laws since Wawa’s are “out of date.”
“By investing in emerging and innovative waste diversion programs, the municipality can reduce the number of bags for household refuse collection, reduce the amount of waste that is decreasing the life cycle of the new landfill cell, and ultimately decrease the amount of operation and maintenance efforts by staff.
"All of which will complement and support the reduction in the number of days the landfill site is open and a reduction in operating hours,” Weatherall stated in her report to council.
Before fully implementing the new site schedule, infrastructure services plans to hold public education sessions to ensure everyone in the municipality is aware of the changes.
