Winnipeg looking at fining residents for putting contaminated items in trash

The City of Winnipeg is asking the public if homeowners should have to pay for throwing contaminated items in their trash and recycling carts.

The City of Winnipeg is asking the public if homeowners should have to pay for throwing contaminated items in their trash and recycling carts.

Winnipeg is looking for feedback on options that may motivate people to divert and recycle more materials, and one of the ideas involves enforcement.

Homeowner Karen Huyghbaert said she's careful about what goes where with her garbage and recycling.

"I rinse out my recycling before it goes in the bin and I'm equally as careful with garbage,” she said.

However, not everyone is as careful and the city wants to divert more waste from the landfill.

Now, it has recommendations on how homeowners could be convinced to reduce waste and it wants the public to weigh in.

"In the recycling cart up to 26 per cent of that recycling is actually garbage material,” said Richard Bolton, the solid waste services planner for the City of Winnipeg