Chilliwack Mayor Popove defends new curbside contractor, says city had to take the lowest bidder

Jun 4, 2026 | 8:49 AM

CHILLIWACK – Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove admits the rollout of the new curbside program at the beginning of May wasn’t spectacular, but says things are improving while the city’s contractor tries to collect old bins from the approximately 23,000 households across Chilliwack.

Mayor Popove told 89.5 JR Country morning host Glen Slingerland that the program has gotten better in recent weeks and the complaints he has received in his inbox have dropped.

“The outset of the new provider, their start wasn’t spectacular, but it certainly has gotten better,” he said Thursday morning. “We have extended the pickup date until June 15. Just be patient, folks. There are 23,000 households here in Chilliwack they gotta pick up from.”

The city recently extended the deadline for the old bin pickup to Monday, June 15, the second time the cutoff date had been moved. It was previously June 6. The city did offer an old bin drop-off date on Saturday, May 30 in the north parking lot of the Chilliwack Coliseum.

As for why the city moved on from Emterra after roughly 20 years as the city’s curbside contractor, it simply came down to cost.

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“Emterra was here for 20 years and people say, why did we change?” Popove told Slingerland. “We’re legislated to take the cheapest quote. That’s how it is. This E360S (company) came in that way.”

He says residents should soon be getting their pink bin for flexible plastic recycling delivered to their homes, if they haven’t already.

“I got my pink bin yesterday,” Popove said, referring to Wednesday, June 3. “You’ll see it. That’s to do the plastics and stuff.”

Beyond the old bin pickup issue, Popove says he hasn’t personally experienced any issues where he lives.

“I haven’t had a problem in my neighbourhood. It’s getting better. It’s been good. They were there at around 8 a.m. Tuesday (to collect). The emails have definitely dropped off exponentially.”

by Mike Vanden Bosch

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Chilliwack Mayor Popove defends new curbside contractor, says city had to take the lowest bidder

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