Holyrood council ends organic waste program because of misuse
By Mark Squibb
The Town of Holyrood’s organic waste drop off program was discontinued in 2025 because the program was being abused, according to councillor Steve Winsor, who broached the subject during last month’s public council meeting.
“It was meant to be for organics, like branches and leaves and grass clippings,” said Winsor. “But people were dropping everything off – propane cylinders, garbage, car tires, all this old nonsense. We do want to come back to that sort of program because it is beneficial to residents, but it’s got to be done correctly and people can’t abuse it. We’ve got to be able to manage it so that we don’t have a fire risk. We saw the fires last summer; we don’t want to put a source of fuel in the middle of our town.”
Winsor said he has seen similar misuse of the designated metal dumpster at the Town Depot, and that on a recent trip he found an old couch, skidoo parts, cardboard, and wooden pallets tucked away behind the dumpster.
“It’s great that we have the program,” said Winsor. “However, if people keep using it as a dump for everything that’s not supposed to go there, it will go away, and that’s something that we’re all going to miss out on. It’s got to be used properly, is the message.”
Councillor Bruce King noted that recycling bins elsewhere in town also had to be removed because some people were tossing garbage in them.
“People have to understand that it’s not the staff who are taking these things away, and it’s not the council that is taking these things away, it’s your neighbours, because if you go down to where Route 60 and the hydro road (Thermal Plant Road) meet, there used to be recycling bins there, and that had to be removed because people were dumping household garbage and everything that had nothing to do with recycling,” said King. “Who wants to dig through that kind of stuff to take the cardboard out? So, the decision was made by council and staff that that would be removed.”
King said that while many people took advantage of the organic dumping site at the sports field to dump brush cuttings and tree limbs, some were abusing the privilege.
“They can get on social media and attack council all they want, but you need to understand that it’s not council that’s doing it,” said Winsor. “It’s your next-door neighbour or your friend down the road who’s taking these privileges away from the majority.”