Waterloo region is quickly rolling into the future with major changes to garbage and green bin collection coming to a street near you.

It’s less than one week away to Tuesday, March 3 — the first day when residents will be expected to place their new, larger garbage bins on the curb.

Collection is also moving to a four-day cycle, instead of a five-day rotation, in order to reduce confusion with holiday Mondays.

CBC Kitchener-Waterloo spoke to Olivia Kwok, the manager of waste collection and diversion with the Region of Waterloo.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

1st week of collection

Olivia Kwok: Next week everybody will get garbage and organics collection — so black cart and green cart.

We did that so that you’d start fresh because right now, based on the current schedule, it may be a different kind of frequency. So we just wanted to make sure everyone started fresh the first week to get used to the program.

Collection day has changed

Olivia Kwok: Your collection day may have changed because of our new schedule.

We’re moving to a four-day collection cycle, so we encourage residents to check our website, regionofwaterloo.ca/carts or look at the calendar that was distributed in the mail or use the Waste Wiz app to to confirm their dates.

CBC K-W: With waste being picked up four days a week, does that mean things will change on the weeks where there’s a holiday?

Olivia Kwok: We actually switched to four day collection to reduce a lot of the Monday holiday collections. So that will actually not impact those because we’re not doing Monday.

However, we will collect still on other holidays except Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Our calendar is updated to reflect that.

What about the old bins?

CBC K-W: If people still have the old garbage cans or green bins, what can they do with those?

Olivia Kwok: We encourage residents to reuse them if possible, so you can use it for the yard waste program, use it for storage.

If you have no use for it, we do accept the green bins through a drop-off program where they’ll be recycled. You could bring it to our waste management sites or we’ll be hosting some drop-off events in each area municipality. More information to come.

If you do not want your green bin or your garbage container at all, it is possible to set it out for bulky item collection. It will count as part of the limit though.

Where do you store the carts?

CBC K-W: Is it OK to store the carts outside your house if you don’t have a garage?

Olivia Kwok: Yes, you could store it wherever you’d like. We’ve seen residents store them outside at the side of the house. You could store them inside in the garage, in a shed. Just make sure you check your local area municipalities and bylaws.

CBC K-W: Where is the best place to put your cart for pick up days? Should it be in the driveway?

Olivia Kwok: Carts should be set out at the edge of the driveway or on the boulevard. So where you’re currently setting your waste out now, you could probably put your carts there.

Just make sure there is about two feet of space or an arm’s length of space around the carts, including away from vehicles or snow banks. That way it can be collected.