Report card tag will inform resident if their cart passes (Image From City of Medicine Hat)

By Brian Konrad

Yard Waste Street Team passing out report cards for green carts

May 15, 2023 | 2:12 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The return of the seasonal yard waste collection program in Medicine Hat comes with a bit of an educational component this year.

After finding items like propane tanks, compressors and old garden hoses tossed into the green yard waste carts in the past, the city has sent out street teams in advance of the collection trucks to peek into the carts and make sure the materials inside are OK to pick up.

Shane Briggs, the City of Medicine Hat solid waste superintendent says the teams will put a tag onto the green cart.

It will either give the resident an A-plus grade or an “Oops” and will list what’s wrong with the material inside.

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Briggs says carts that fail will be turned sideways in advance of the collection truck that day.

“So basically if the cart is turned sideways that’s the street team telling the truck not to pick it up because it’s too contaminated,” says Briggs.

The tag will explain why the cart was turned sideways and instruct the resident to remove he disallowed material and place them into the grey cart for collection the following week.

Briggs notes the cards have two sides and sometimes the wind can flip the tag, so the resident should look carefully to see what it says.

Briggs says contaminating a load with the wrong materials can damage the machinery used to process the yard waste at the landfill.