A Halton trash collector has been fired after a video emerged online showing him shoveling snow into a garbage truck.
The video was captured by Milton resident Anna O’Sullivan Tuesday morning and posted online.
O’Sullivan told CTV News that she didn’t realize the collector was doing anything wrong by shoveling snow from the front of her home into his truck. She said she thought it was simply funny that he was being so helpful in clearing away some of the snow on her property.
As it turns out, the region is charged for trash collection by weight, meaning a truck full of snow would artificially inflate the price charged to the region.
“It was an obvious attempt to add weight to the truck as the contractor is paid on a per ton basis for solid waste and recycling,” said Jim Harnum, Halton Region’s commissioner of public works.
An official with Miller Waste Systems, the region’s garbage contractor, told NEWSTALK 1010 Wednesday that the employee had been fired.
“I do think it’s an isolated incident,” Harnum said. “We’ve talked to the contractor. They’ve taken appropriate disciplinary action with the employee and we’re working together to ensure an incident like this doesn’t happen in the future.”
Harnum said Miller has advised its employees that weighting trucks artificially will result in termination.
He said the region rejected the questionable loads delivered Monday and will likely be issuing a fine to the company. He added that the region will be going back to check past truck weights for anomalies to make sure that false weighting has not been an ongoing issue.
