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Cole Breiland / Winnipeg Free Press Brian Dies delivers a recycling cart on Downing Street on Monday. Collection using the carts will start in August and September.

Winnipeg is one step closer to reducing the amount of waste it sends to landfill as crews roll out new recycling and garbage carts across the city.

On Monday, city crews started to deliver recycling carts to homes in Winnipeg's northwest, including St. James and Garden City, where residents have used garbage carts since 2010. From June to September, Winnipeg will replace blue boxes and garbage cans at homes across the city with automated garbage and recycling carts in an effort to improve the city's dismal trash-diversion rate and get residents to recycle more and throw out less.

The overhaul is part of the new garbage and recycling master plan city council approved last fall.

City solid waste manager Darryl Drohomerski said Winnipeg has one of the lowest rates of trash diversion in the country -- 15 per cent. The new system will give residents an opportunity to recycle more, and the long-term goal is to reduce the amount of trash sent to landfill by 50 per cent, he said.

The 240-litre garbage and recycling carts are roughly the size of three standard-size garbage bags or four blue boxes.

Neighbourhoods in the city's northwest were the first to test the new garbage carts in 2010, and after one year, the area recorded the highest level of recycling Winnipeg has seen -- 47,000 metric tonnes -- and saw the amount of waste sent to landfill drop by nearly 11,000 metric tonnes compared with the previous year.

City officials hope other areas will see a similar jump in recycling.

"We're offering residents a lot more opportunity to divert material from landfill," Drohomerski said.

The city will deliver garbage and recycling carts to northeast neighbourhoods in July, to eastern parts of Winnipeg in August and to areas south of the Assiniboine River and west of the Seine River in September.

The city plans to start collection in autobin areas west of the Red River on Aug. 1 and elsewhere on Oct. 1.

Drohomerski said crews will deliver about 4,000 carts a day to the property line on the front street. He said residents should store the carts in a safe place and record the cart's serial number in case a problem arises.

Every cart is assigned to a specific address and will be recorded in a city database.

The carts come with a user guide that outlines the new collection service and explains households will soon have a set day of the week for garbage and recycling pickup. Two compostable bags to remind Winnipeggers what they should use to dispose of yard waste and a reusable shopping bag are also included.

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca

Delivery staggered

Why didn't I receive a cart yet?

City crews will first deliver carts to the city's northwest, then work clockwise to deliver them to other parts of the city. Neighbourhoods in Winnipeg's northeast will receive their carts in July. Areas east of Lagomodiere Boulevard, south of Mission Street and east of the Red River will receive their carts in August. Neighbourhoods south of the Assiniboine River and west of the Red River will receive their carts in September. Areas south of Bishop Grandin Boulevard and west of the Seine River will also receive the carts in September.

The city plans to start collection in autobin areas west of the Red River on Aug. 1 and elsewhere in Winnipeg on Oct. 1.

What am I supposed to do with the carts until then?

Bring the carts up to your home as soon as possible and store them in a safe place, such as inside a garage or at the side of your house. City officials are reminding residents not to use the carts until their first autobin collection date (either August or October).