TORONTO—Tuesday was the first day for privatized trash collection in west Toronto, but collection appears to be slow.
Green for Life Environmental Corporation (GFL), the city’s new contractor, now serves the 165,000 homes between Yonge Street and the Humber River.
After accepting the new contract, GFL takes a risk, as it will do the same job as the former public sector collectors, but with 160 employees and 84 trucks instead of 252 employees and 107 trucks.
After the first day, it appears as if GFL will face challenges with a manpower shortage. Some crews were unable to finish their routes and had to leave behind about 500 recycling bins.
Coucillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, Chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, tells residents to be patient while the new crews familiarize themselves with their routes.
“Our objective now is to get this right,” Minnan-Wong said at a morning press conference. “We are going to focus hard … to make sure that we ensure there is customer service excellence.”
“This is a great day for the City of Toronto,” said Mayor Rob Ford.
“Acting on my campaign promise to contract out appropriate services and to save the City money, I am pleased to welcome GFL as the waste collection provider in this area of the city,” Ford stated in a City of Toronto news release.
However, Mark Ferguson, president of CUPE Local 416, doesn’t think that this is a beneficial change and has set up a “GFL Waste Watchers” hotline where people can report any issues with the new privatized garbage collection.
GFL did not respond to a request for comment by press deadline.
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