"The mechanical arm on the collection truck can only grab the official blue bins, so the collector has to get out of the truck to pick up material that's outside the bin. That slows collection, and results in wear-and-tear injuries to collectors, De Baeremaeker said." (John Spears, The Toronto Star, 18 April 2009)
De Baeremaeker and managers must've gotten into those pot muffins that guilty 18-year-old tossed into a park. It's the only reason I can see for such a dumb comment. Note to DB, the collectors already get out! There's no way the mechanical arm can reach through cars, over the snow banks, or across the sidewalk to get to those blue bins. Most of the time, the poor schmucks have to drag the bloody things to the truck, hook it up to the arm, hang about while the truck lifts and dumps it, then drag it back, sometimes leaving it blocking up the sidewalk more than before. And those big ones? Those sidewalk-width sized ones? Get rid of them! They're forcing me onto the road the whole damn day even after the collectors come through because a bin doesn't shrink just cause it's been emptied. With bags, even with the smaller bins, I was not forced into such a dangerous position.
"Taxpayers are always telling us to be efficient. What we're trying to do is improve our efficiency by 10 per cent and save taxpayers about $5 million."I'm sure the taxpayers forced to put their own backs at risk will thank you. DB, you're not being efficient, you're compounding a stupid policy decision to make it more onerous -- and I didn't think that was possible -- on the collectors who will have to drag bigger bins and homeowners who have to deal with more bureaucracy and drag their own bigger bins instead of dealing with recyclables in manageable chunks, that is, several bags and/or bins.
Stop blaming Torontonians for your policy creating higher injury rates. This was forseeable. What I want to know is, will those now forced to move all their recyclables at once in one bin be allowed to sue you for injuries sustained?
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