Halifax clear bag policy could mean kitchen catcher adjustments

Halifax households that line their kitchen and bathroom garbage bins with old grocery bags should take note of new trash rules that will be enforced later this summer.

Beginning Aug. 1, households will be allowed to put just one dark bag on the curb for collection and will have to put the rest of their garbage in clear bags so the municipality can make sure it's properly sorted.

And that means those opaque kitchen bags won't be allowed in clear bags, according to the city's manager of solid waste resources.

"The clear bags can't have the tied-off Sobeys bags put in them because, again, the haulers need to be able to see what's in the clear bag," Matt Keliher told CBC Radio's Information Morning.

There are a couple of other options: households can place kitchen bags in the one dark "privacy" bag that's allowed, dump the contents into a clear bag, or simply use clear kitchen catchers.

Under the new rules, single-unit homes are allowed a maximum of five clear bags and one dark. Multi-unit residences are allowed a maximum of four clear bags and one privacy bag per unit.