Frequently Asked Questions

The Wet/Dry Waste Separation program is an easy way for residents to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. The sorting program is a way of separating your waste into two categories, wet and dry, which are composted or recycled. Wet waste is placed in a green transparent bag, and includes compostable products, generally wet and soiled items. Dry waste is placed in a blue transparent bag, and includes dry items, made up of both recyclables and non-recyclables.

For more information, visit our page on Wet/Dry Waste Separation  

The City of Moncton has been promoting the Wet/Dry Waste Separation program since it was implemented as a voluntary measure in 1999.

As a result of our community’s commitment to the environment, and in particular, recycling, mandatory separation was adopted on October 1, 2006. The residential mandatory waste separation program has been a huge success, now boasting a 99.9 per cent rate of participation.

The benefits of this program are irrefutable. Our community’s participation in the wet/dry program is extending the life of the Westmorland-Albert landfill and dramatically increasing the amount of material being reused and recycled. This not only reduces our community’s carbon footprint, but also reduces the overall cost of providing waste collection services. Presently, more than 51 per cent of residential waste collected is recycled or composted.

In fact, in 2007, the City of Moncton’s mandatory Wet/Dry Waste Separation program helped the Westmorland-Albert Solid Waste Corporation recycle more than 11,000 metric tons of materials such as cardboard, paper, milk cartons, plastics, electronics, metals, and even old sneakers.

The two-stream program is simple: green bags for wet waste; blue bags for dry waste.

Wet = Green
If it’s sticky, gooey, yucky, mucky, or dirty, put it in the green bag. Wet waste includes all food items, soiled food wrappers, hygiene products, yard waste, tissues and paper towels, as well as any other soiled item that would contaminate the recyclables.

Dry = Blue
If it’s dry, place it in the blue bag. Dry waste includes all items that are not wet or soiled. It also includes items that can be easily rinsed or wiped clean, recyclables and non-recyclables, all types of paper, cardboard, bottles, cans, etc.

A complete wet/dry list is available on-line at westmorlandalbert.com. For a printable version click here.  The list includes items that should be placed in each bag. Lists are also available at your municipal office, or by contacting the Westmorland-Albert Solid Waste Corporation at 506-877-1040.

When bags are too heavy, they present a safety risk to you, your family, and your waste collector. On a typical day, your waste collector lifts over 10 metric tonnes of trash - the equivalent of lifting two elephants. Lighten the load for yourself and for others by ensuring that no bag weighs more than 20 kg (44 lbs). As a rule of thumb, if you can lift the bag with one hand it should be okay.

Garbage cans can be used to store sorted, bagged waste, but for health and safety reasons, unbagged waste placed in these receptacles will not be collected.

On a typical day, your waste collector lifts over 10 metric tonnes of trash - the equivalent of lifting two elephants. If you place your bags in a garbage can or other type of receptacle, it must weigh no more than 15 kg (33 lbs) when full. Garbage cans are more difficult to lift than bags, and must be lighter to prevent them from being too heavy for our staff to lift.

Can I use another type of bag and mark them wet and dry?

No. All waste must be placed in the appropriate green or blue transparent bag.
For safety reasons, the Westmorland-Albert Solid Waste Corporation is not able to process non-transparent bags. Collection staff must be able to see into the bag, and be able to simply identify any potential hazards, such as broken glass, sharp objects, or fire hazards.

The transparency of these bags addresses one of the city’s major concerns—the safety of residents and collection staff. Transparent bags help collection crews identify potential hazards inside the bags, such as broken glass, sharp objects or fire hazards. The colours, blue and green, easily identify whether the contents are wet, or dry, eliminating any need to analyze the contents of the bag at curbside or at the recycling facility.

Yard waste is compostable and is considered wet waste. It should be placed in green transparent bags, or can be composted in your backyard. Visit our Composting section for more information.

No. In order to maintain consistency, the only waste bags that will be permitted are blue and green transparent bags. Leaves need to be placed in a green transparent bag. Green transparent leaf bags are available at all major retailers.

Yes. Branches can be disposed of without using a green transparent bag. Branches must be placed at the curbside in a bundle no larger than 60 cm long, and 60 cm wide (two feet long, and two feet wide).

Large, bulky pieces of cardboard do not need to be placed in a bag as long as they can be flattened and bundled and no dimension (width, height, length) exceeding 60 cm (2 feet). However, if the cardboard is not bagged and due to inclement weather becomes wet, it cannot be recycled. Small pieces of cardboard still need to be placed in a blue transparent bag.

Blue and green transparent bags are available at all major retailers in the area. They come in a variety of sizes, in order to fit consumer needs.

Waste should be disposed of in a blue transparent, or green transparent bag. Sorting machines cannot open smaller tied bags, such as plastic grocery bags, thus reducing the amount of material that can be sorted and recycled. The best practice is to empty the content of a waste bin lined with a smaller bag into the appropriate green or blue transparent bag, and discard the smaller bag, empty of content, in a transparent blue bag for recycling.

If you wish to dispose of and recycle any extra plastic grocery bags, place them in the blue transparent bag for recycling. Most grocery stores also have bins where you can return plastic grocery bags for recycling, and are now selling reusable bags, which keep several million plastic bags out of our landfill yearly.

Yes, your sorted waste remains separate in the collection truck. All collection trucks are divided into two side-by-side sections, with 70 per cent allocated for dry waste and 30 per cent allocated for wet waste. All wet/dry waste is loaded into the appropriate side of the vehicle, keeping it separate. The collection truck is then able to open each side separately when unloading wet or dry waste in their designated areas at the Westmorland–Albert Solid Waste Corporations’ Recycling Facility.

Apartment buildings with five units or less are subject to the mandatory waste separation
by-law since October 1, 2006. Apartment buildings with six units and over, and businesses, are not included in mandatory separation at this time. Independent haulers are contracted to collect their waste. Many apartment buildings and businesses have made the decision to participate in the program voluntarily.

The City of Moncton has a system, which includes a combination of the following steps. These options are only considered as a last resort in an effort to keep the city clean and sanitary.

The first time a household places non-compliant waste curbside, their waste will be left behind with an orange non-compliant sticker, at which point, residents should take their waste away from the curb, sort it properly, and place it again the following week.

When a household places non-compliant waste curbside, their waste will be left behind with an orange non-compliant sticker, at which point, for health and safety reasons, residents are required to remove their waste from the curb, sort it properly, and place it again the following week. If the non-compliant waste is still at the curbside 24 hours after being labeled, the city will provide a special collection with the property owner subject to a $100 service fee.

If you are uncertain about why waste was not picked up at your residence, or if you have any questions, please call our 24-hour Dispatch Centre at 506-859-2643.