There has been an uptick in people not complying with garbage collection bylaws in the Regional District of Nanaimo, which is bad news for ensuring a positive relationship with bears.
Ben Routledge, RDN solid waste services manager, reported the news to the RDN board during their meeting Tuesday, March 25.
"Over the last couple months there have been several incidents involving bears utilizing organic carts as food sources," he said. "Additionally other animals are becoming habituated to collection carts that have been left out on collection day or set out early. Other animal events, such as raccoons overturning carts and birds getting into these carts get materials spread across roadways."
From March 1-12, more than 150 homes across three collection routes were identified as being non-compliant with the bylaw, which dictates households must place collection carts roadside no earlier than 5 a.m. on a collection day. Households are also required to remove all collection carts no later than 10 p.m.
"Some residents within the RDN curbside collection service are setting out their carts earlier than they're allowed to in the bylaw, or leaving them out long after collection," he told the board. "We're talking about days in some cases."
When a bear gets into garbage, it can become climatized to humans, which often results in the bear being put down by conservation officers. In 2023, one black bear was put down by conservation officers in Nanaimo, while in 2022 there was a record of 10 bears killed.
In response to the recent increase in non-compliance, the regional district launched a 'bear aware campaign' using social media, print media and utility bill inserts in areas with a higher occurrence of non-compliance to educate residents.
When a non-compliant household is identified, the address is documented. If the cart is left out again, staff apply an educational sticker notice to inform the resident of the regulations. Should the household violate the bylaw up to four times, Routledge said the cart will be confiscated from the residence and only returned once the resident agrees to comply with the bylaw.
"Assuming that resident … left the cart out for a fifth time, that's when we would get into considering applying fines under the bylaw."
The bylaw allows for retroactive fines of $100 per offence up to a maximum of $500. Routledge noted, however, that in his experience, residents have always corrected their behaviour before any fines were issued.
"We believe that most residents are attempting to follow the rules and those contravening the bylaw are doing so ignorant of what their actions are doing. However, the incidents of carts being placed at the curb early or remaining at the curb after collection is increasing," he said. "Carts remaining at the curb also present a road hazard after collection day."
