Norfolk County’s Environmental Services and Corporate Communications staff have won an award for their household hazardous waste appointment-based system.
The collaboration between the two departments earned staff the Gold Promotion and Education Award from the Municipal Waste Association’s (MWA) Promotion and Education Awards in the “Surprise Us” category.
“The COVID-19 pandemic posed many operational challenges for us – but at the end of the day, we felt it was essential to continue to provide household hazardous waste disposal service to residents,” said Merissa Bokla, Supervisor, Waste Management. “In order to adhere to contact tracing and social distancing requirements, we implemented this appointment-based system.”
A post-event survey indicated that 93.6 per cent of attendees liked the new system.
The appointment-based system allowed residents to sign up for a half hour appointment block online for their desired time slot and event – which improved wait times and flow throughout the event.
With the success of the 2020 events, Norfolk County will be continuing to offer the appointment-based program for household hazardous waste events in 2021. Four upcoming dates have been added for summer and fall 2021 and residents are encouraged to book an appointment online and secure their spot.
Information on 2021 events can be found at norfolkcounty.ca/waste.
