Norfolk divided into three pickup zones for annual leaf, yard and waste collection
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Norfolk County’s leaf and yard waste collection program began Monday and runs continuously until Oct. 12.
The county has been divided into three zones for this purpose, with weekly collection cycling through these zones for the next seven months.
Zone 1 consists of Simcoe and Long Point. Leaf and yard waste will be collected in this zone Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday April 6-9. There will be no collection April 10 due to the Good Friday statutory holiday.
Zone 2 consists of Port Dover, Port Rowan and Langton while Zone 3 consists of Turkey Point, Vittoria, St. Williams, Courtland, Delhi and Waterford. Leaf and yard waste in these zones will be collected along with the regularly-scheduled curbside collection commencing the week of Monday, April 13 to Friday, April 17.
Details of the leaf and yard-waste collection cycle are contained in Norfolk’s 2020 waste calendar. A digital calendar with the same information is posted at the county website at norfolkcounty.ca/living/garbage-and-recycling.
Norfolk’s waste collection contractor will pick up all biodegradable paper bags filled with leaves and yard waste. There is no limit on the number of bags that can be put curbside. The maximum weight per bag is 40 pounds (18 kilograms).
The county will also collect limbs, twigs and stalks provided they are cut to a maximum length of three feet (91 centimetres) and bound into bundles with organic string or twine.
Bundles tied with plastic or metal wire will not be accepted. Leaves and yard waste in plastic bags also will not be collected.
At its website, the county also encourages residents with the capacity to do so to consider composting leaves and yard waste on their property. Equipment is available to accelerate the conversion of yard waste into soil-building organic matter.
Leaf and yard waste collected in biodegrable paper bags can also be dropped off at county waste transfer stations in South Walsingham and Simcoe.
In a news release on April 3, Norfolk issued a reminder to those with burning permits that a county-wide ban on the burning of leaves and yard waste remains in effect until further notice.
Burning for disposal purposes has been suspended to reduce the potential number of incidents Norfolk firefighters might be called to.
Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus health alert, all Canadians are encouraged to practice social distancing and self-isolation. To guard against needless exposure to the virus and the potential infection of first responders, Norfolk County wants to keep firefighting calls to a minimum.
As for grass clippings, Norfolk County asks residents to refrain from putting them curbside as yard waste. Instead, the county asks that clippings be left in place on the lawn. The county says clippings decompose quickly. As they do, they fortify the sod while returning nutrients to the soil.
“Landfill space is becoming more and more scarce,” the county website says under the heading “Grasscycling.”
“Help divert grass clippings and have a healthier lawn too.”
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