The residential drop off at Robin Hood Bay landfill is closed to the public until further notice, the City of St. John’s announced Wednesday.
The Robin Hood Bay landfill site, however, will remain open for commercial and municipal customers Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A news release states that, as advised by public health officials, the city is making every effort to support the need for social distancing.
“The chief medical officer for the province has stated that people should be staying home except for essentials such as groceries and medical supplies — dropping extra garbage off is not essential at this time,” Mayor Danny Breen said. “We are doing our part to support the guidance of the province.”
The release notes that members of the public have been coming in close contact with one another at the residential drop off site as they travel back and forth from their vehicles to the bins, often assisting one another with heavy items, and approaching staff with questions on where to place items.
“The residential drop off continues to be a very busy site, despite the advice to restrict movement,” Breen said. “Yesterday, for example, there were 1,200 vehicle visits.”
On March 17, the city announced it would suspend recycling collection for a minimum of two weeks. Recycling collection will not resume on March 30 and will be suspended for another two weeks. The public is asked to store their recycling, if possible. If not possible, include your recycling in your regular garbage collection. Additional bags, however, are not permitted outside of your cart.
There are two main reasons recycling cannot be accepted at this time: It requires more handling by staff than regular garbage, potentially placing our staff at additional risk of coming in contact with the coronavirus; and, as part of workforce management, it is imperative to ensure that the city has a full crew available every day for garbage collection.
The city recently announced that city facilities, parks and playgrounds have also been closed. Grooming of the ski trails in Pippy Park, a service the municipality performs in this provincial park, has also been suspended for the season.
