96% of Winnipegers Happy with Emterra’s Garbage/Recycling Service Says Opinion Research Expert

Ninety-six percent of Winnipegers “seem to be satisfied” with Emterra Environmental’s garbage and recycling collection service, according to a public opinion research expert, Greg Mason.

Mason, a partner in the Winnipeg office of Prairie Research Associates (PRA) said in a statement published in the February 7th edition of the Winnipeg Sun that the rating was “pretty good -- I think most people would see that as an acceptable score.”

PRA conducted the independent survey in late January.

In the Sun article (Garbage on Time, 96% of the time: Independent Poll), Mason speculated that past media coverage might not be representative of the experience of the whole population.

“We’ve seen a lot of media accounts, in terms of anecdotes, single instances of garbage not being picked up, so what we wanted to do was more of a scientific reading of how Winnipeggers were experiencing the system,” he said in the article.

“Our instinct that what was represented in the media may not be what most Winnipeggers were experiencing.”

Mason also said: "This is what happens when you have a new service... There are problems while the new service shakes down, and then the service seems to stabilize. At this point, even in the winter, the service now seems to have settled down."

The research results showed that nearly all Winnipegers report their garbage and recycling is picked up on schedule.

PRA conducted the survey of 480 respondents by randomly selecting phone numbers. PRA reports the size of the survey is statistically significant.