Curbside Waste Diversion Policy
This week at the Environment and Climate Change Committee meeting we discussed the proposed Curbside Waste Diversion Policy Environment and Climate Change Committee – June 05, 2023
The proposal from Staff regarding diversion is to provide those that receive curbside pickup 55 tags each year, and residents would be asked to tag each container (one container is 140L in size, or one large size bag) set out for collection. If a residents need more tags, each additional tag will cost $3.00.
In the meeting, I voted in support of Councillor Carr’s motion, which was also endorsed by the Mayor, because it no longer required tags on two bins of garbage which would have meant no change or costs to the majority of all curbside pickup households. Tags would only apply for any additional waste items.
The “Garbage Audit” conducted by staff, found that currently 75% of households put out 2 or less containers of garbage. Staff also found that 58% of contents set out for garbage collection could be diverted to either compost or recycling. This speaks volumes regarding how much work some residents still have to do with regard to properly diverting to organics and recycling.
With regard to larger households, City staff indicated that they would look at special situations such as large households a direction which I support. I also support a motion by Councillor Johnson that would request extensive education programs for vulnerable community members, so they are aware of the importance of diversion options. Staff also intend to have a more robust campaign about diverting waste to the proper places – recycling and compost.
The discussion of waste is an important one, and also a very difficult conversation to have, but councillors are elected to make tough decisions. Residents in Ottawa are currently paying the lowest fee for garbage collection, and in order to continue to enjoy that, we need to continue to divert to compost and recycling.
With the new Provincial Blue Box Program producers will be responsible for collecting and processing recyclable materials from eligible sources. This means every item that is sent to the landfill instead of to recycling will be costing us more money, taking up crucial space in our landfill, and it will have no chance to be recycled to have the material reused.
As a City we must work toward the new provincially legislated mandates for composting, which includes phasing out food and organic waste sent to landfill by 2030.
As a result, the proposed changes to the curbside pickup also have this target as part of the goal, and we will want to ensure any new facilities that are created are as efficient as possible, and that we are not spending money sending compost or recycling to a landfill.
Many residents have brought up garbage and diversion for multi-residential buildings (anywhere with six or more units), and this is being examined as well.
As of 2022, 18% of Ottawa households fall under multi-residential pickup, with the remaining 82 per cent being collected from curbside households. The collection of multi-residential waste, recycling, and compost is also under discussion through the new strategy, which you can find here: https://engage.ottawa.ca/multi-residential-waste-diversion-strategy. Residents in multi-residential buildings do not receive unlimited waste collection services, services are determined by location size, diversion programs available, and space allocation.
Multi-residential buildings can compost, and the City has been working with building owners to implement compost plans. A more robust on-boarding campaign is set to begin later this year. Multi-residential buildings will need to meet the Provincial target for multi-residential properties for 50% waste reduction and recovery of food and organic waste by 2025.
Campaigns are coming and the recommendations for Multi-Residential Homes will be back before Council this fall with an update on implementation.
Concerns about illegal dumping have also been a concern for residents. The report by Staff addresses this, stating “Municipalities that have implemented a Partial Pay-As-You-Throw program experienced an initial increase in illegal dumping of household waste that tapered off in the first six months with proactive monitoring, education, and enforcement.”
City staff have stated that Bylaw Services will be hiring staff specifically to monitor any dumping. I have also asked that the City increase recycling in our parks, particularly Britannia and Andrew Haydon to ensure more diversion of waste to our land fill.
78 municipalities in Ontario have a partial Pay-As-You-Throw program in place, and they are diverting successfully from their landfill.
Currently here’s what residents of other cities pay:
- Edmonton: $585
- Toronto: $286 – $548
- Saskatoon: $436
- Vancouver: $398
- Peel Region: $301
- Durham: $219
- Hamilton: $212
- Kingston: $202
Ottawa needs to be one of these cities. Diverting from the landfill prolongs the life of Trail Road, which is cost effective for residents, as a new landfill will cost anywhere from $300 to $450 million dollars (similarly, staff report incineration will be roughly the same cost). And better diverting recycling and compost is crucial for the environment. The longer our landfill lasts, the better for everyone.
