Take the Time to clean up Thunder Bay

THUNDER BAY – To encourage participation in the municipal Spring Up to Clean Up Program, landfill tipping fees are waived for all residents driving cars and non-commercial light trucks from Sunday, May 4, to Sunday, May 11. Regular tipping fees apply to all loads brought onto the site in commercial vehicles.

Free Week at the Solid Waste and Recycling Facility on Mapleward Road has become an annual event for many residents in Thunder Bay as spring weather inspires clean-up activities in homes and yards. The waiving of tipping fees does not apply to commercial vehicles.

“Free week is a great chance for homeowners to spruce up their homes and yards and deliver waste to the landfill without having to pay the normal tipping fees,” stated Sgt. Glenn Porter, of the Thunder Bay Police Service. “However, every year there are problems with garbage spilling out of unsecured loads on the way to the landfill which poses a real danger to vehicles following behind.”

Litter flying out of trucks and trailers is unsightly and harmful to the environment. All loads must be covered and secured.

“Vehicle inspections will go hand and hand with load inspections,” continued Porter. “If someone thinks that driving the old beater pick-up out to the dump is the trick, it might be time to spend a few dollars to get it street-legal first. Most importantly, make sure you have a driver’s licence. If you are suspended or unlicensed, get someone else to drive. Equipment, loads, documents, and speeds will all be under scrutiny. Clean up the yard and the garage and have some fun saving money, but get things right on the road, before the wheels start turning!”

In past years some residents have found that their vehicles or loads have cost them a ticket.

Traffic at the site increases significantly in the spring, especially during Spring Up to Clean Up.  All loads must be organized for easy, quick removal at the proper laydown areas. At the landfill site, you will pass the laydown areas in this order:

Second right turn after you enter the site:
Household Recycling – paper, glass, cardboard, tetra paks & milk cartons, metal cans, aluminum cans and #1 and #2 plastic bottles only
E-Waste – electronics
Household Hazardous Waste – used motor oil, solvents, left-over paint, etc.

Public Waste Disposal Area
Household Garbage
Scrap Metal
Large / bulky Items – such as mattresses and furniture
Tires
Bicycles
Compost Laydown / Clean Wood Waste
Main Tipping Face

Using special laydown areas for materials like scrap metal, compost, tires and hazardous waste prevents these items from being buried in with the garbage.

Be patient with the increased volume of traffic and drive carefully. If possible, visit the landfill on Sunday, May 4 or Sunday, May 11 when fewer vehicles are on site. Come early in the morning avoid lineups. Kiosk staff at the public Weigh Scale will direct you to the Public Waste Disposal Area or Main Tipping Face depending on your load.

For more information on recycling, landfill and Spring Up to Clean Up contact the Infrastructure & Operations Dispatcher at 625-2195.