The Boyne landfill site in Winchester. File photo

NORTH DUNDAS – The world is changing faster every day.

Municipalities have to keep up as best as they can. North Dundas is staying ahead of the digital curve with the addition of the Recycle Coach app. They have added it to their toolbox of ways to help residents with their recycling habits and landfill management schedules and information.

Doug Froats the director of waste management for the township explained the rational behind using the Recycle Coach.

He said, “Our website was really congested and it was really hard to find information so we are trying to streamline it.”

Now when you go to the township’s landfill and recycling section of their website, you will get a first hand look at how the Recycle Coach can make a difference in sharing information.

Of special interest is the What Goes Where section. Residents can look for answers about what kind of items can be recycled and what items go directly into the landfill site.

“With the Recycle Coach app you can get your recycling information as well as when your garbage pickup is,” said Froats.

“It will also tell you when their holidays and household hazardous waste days [are],” he said.

The app, which is free, can be found at the Google Play Store or the Apple Store. The app gives residents regular updates and warnings.

Froats said, “I think one of the best things about the Recycle Coach is a section called What Goes Where.

You can type up Styrofoam for example and it will tell you Styrofoam should be placed in your regular curbside waste.

All the information is there.”

In the past, landfill staff has connected with residents through the use of a printed calendar. At one time they would design, print and deliver 4,500 individual calendars.

With the Recycle Coach, all that is in the past. Froats said the people behind the app make sure it is up to date.

“If something is wrong they have it changed around and running in the proper way. Whenever we have to make changes they are made quickly.”

The township has been using the Recycle Coach for the past nine months.

The number of residents who have downloaded the app is significant according to Froats and growing all the time.

“If someone does not have it yet, and calls the municipality we will still look after them. We will print them off a six – month schedule and either mail it to them or drop it off,” said Froats.

Despite the occasional problem getting the app to recognize an address, a problem that can easily be fixed, residents have found it to be useful.

“The challenge is to get people to change,” said Froats.

“Some people who have been having a problem say they like the idea and will try it,” he said.

One of the first things users of the app find is that it is easy to check up on the schedule for their individual area and determine what recycling items they will be putting out by the curb.

In the past, it was not unusual for residents to take a look at what their neighbour was putting out to ensure they were on the same schedule.

Those days, thanks to the Recycle Coach are disappearing.