Burnaby is on the hunt for a contractor to service its residents’ “beloved pets” by picking up dog poop from local parks.
The contractor is responsible for emptying, removing and disposing the canine caca from 120-litre red dog waste bins on a weekly basis (though that’s subject to change due to seasonality and park usage).
The city provides 26 dog waste bins in 23 locations, according to a request for proposals seeking dog waste removal services posted earlier this month.
Two local spots are tied for the title of poopiest park: David Gray Park and Burnaby Heights Park each produce about 140 litres of poop per week.
Fraser Foreshore comes in third with 100 litres collected each week.
(No data was provided for Eastlake, Keswick or Willingdon Heights parks.)
Besides collecting the bins, the prospective pooper scooper will also be responsible for separating the dog waste from the baggies at their own facility, as the “debagging or separating of dog waste” cannot occur on city property.
The contractor has the option to do that “manually or by automated means” and must also ensure the plastic bags do not contaminate the dog waste sent to the wastewater treatment facility.
The handheld plastic poop bags supplied by the city must be disposed of properly, and the contractor is also responsible for removing any non-dog waste materials that could end up in the collected dog waste.
The city currently uses nine-by-13-inch oxo-biodegradable dog waste bags, but the bid documents do not mention what kind of bags the city will use now that the B.C. government has banned the sale and distribution of oxo-degradable plastic due to additives that break down into polluting microplastics.
The city may consider alternative environmentally sustainable treatment or disposal methods “if further innovations in dog waste processing become available (e.g. composting).”
In 2023, Burnaby paid $57,000 to New Westminster-based Scooby’s Dog Waste Removal Services Ltd., according to the city’s statement of financial information.
The call for bids closes July 29.
