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Winnipeg

Brandon beats Winnipeg in garbage pick-up efficiency; growing pains blamed

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CTV Winnipeg: Josh Crabb on Brandon vs. Winnipeg's Brandon's garbage system appears to be more efficient than Winnipeg's, with right-side driving trucks speeding up collection.

Winnipeg may need only a few minor tweaks to its garbage collection system to fix the delays citizens are facing, according to one Brandon public works official.

Trash collection is a full day behind in the city, but their neighbour to the west, Brandon, has no such troubles.

Like Winnipeg, Brandon provides residents with one bin for garbage and one for recycling. An automated truck arm picks up the bins and dumps them into a garbage truck.

“Oh it’s a wonderful system. Yeah, we just love it,” said Brandon resident Gerald Shanks.

The same company, Emterra, is responsible for garbage pick up in both cities, but in Winnipeg collection is lagging.

And it’s not due to a lack of trucks. Brandon has just five trucks take care of 16,000 homes, compared to Winnipeg with 100 trucks for 190,000 homes.

“They should have more trucks out to do whatever there is to do,” said Gwen Hamilton, another Brandon resident.

But more trucks may not be the solution.

Brandon’s trucks work faster than Winnipeg’s. On average, Brandon trucks pick up 1,600 containers per day, while Winnipeg’s do between 1,300 and 1,600 per day.

That could be due to a longer commute to the landfill for Winnipeg trucks, or it could be less efficient drivers.

“There will be a learning curve, but it will get better,” said Ian Broome, Brandon’s director of public works.

Broome said Brandon has had the benefit of time to help staff adjust.

Brandon has had automated bin collection for over two decades and moved to the two-bin system four years ago.

“Unless you’ve been on an automated truck, you get nervous reaching in between containers to get fences and all of that,” said Broome. “I feel for them.”

Brandon residents say Winnipeggers just need to be patient. “It takes awhile to figure all that out, but once they catch on to it, they’re going to love it,” said Shanks.

And even in Brandon, the system isn’t perfect. The city has had trouble getting people to take their bins inside. They’re even considering fining residents who don’t move their back-lane bins in their yards quickly enough.

City of Winnipeg officials said similar fines aren’t on its radar. Right now it wants to focus on education and helping people get more accustomed to the new automated system.