The Proposed Curbside Waste Diversion Policy

At the time of writing, Council was just provided with information regarding the City’s proposed Curbside Waste Diversion Policy. I wanted to take a moment to outline the policy, why I do not support it, and what a better solution would look like for our City.

The Proposed Curbside Waste Diversion Policy

The plan as proposed would see the City reduce the amount of garbage that residents are allowed to place at their curbside from the current amount of six bags every two weeks. The City would change the system from one of a bag limit to one that is enforced with a bag-tagging system. The City would provide residents with an allotment of 55 tags annually.

In effect, this would reduce the amount of curbside collection available to residents from six bags to roughly two bags every two weeks on average, though residents could save tags in weeks where they do not accumulate as much waste for weeks where they produce more.

The plan would also see costs increase on residents. Tags in excess of the annual allotment will cost $3, meaning that a family that continues to produce 6 bags of garbage every 2 weeks would pay close to $300 more annually in increased tags purchased.

Staff have argued that the plan is necessary as the Trail Waste Facility Landfill – which is in our ward – could reach capacity in 13 to 15 years. Meanwhile, they are concerned that a new landfill or alternative technology such as incineration would take up to 15 years to become operational.

The purpose of the proposed plan, according to staff, is to extend the useful life of the Trail Road facility, effectively buying time for a long-term solution to be implemented. Staff also believe that this plan will increase compliance with the City’s waste diversion efforts.

This proposed plan will be presented to and voted on at the Environment and Climate Change Committee on June 5th. If approved, it will rise to Council on June 14th. If approved at Council, City staff will propose an implementation plan with a goal of rolling out these changes in 2024.  

Why I Do Not Support This Proposed Plan

To me, this plan is entirely unacceptable. It will increase costs and pressures on families at precisely a time in which many are already struggling, and it will reduce the quality of Ottawa’s garbage collection services.

I will not be supporting this plan at Council or Committee and I am urging my colleagues to reject this plan.

If the City proceeds with this plan, it may have the reverse effect from what is intended. It may result in decreased recycling and green bin compliance as residents dispose of their surplus waste incorrectly to try to avoid fees. In rural areas, we will likely see a greater volume of trash dumped and accumulating in culverts, forested areas, and at the roadsides. Parks and community waste bins are likely to see an increase in domestic waste generation.

Put simply, the waste is still being generated, and the landfill will still run out of capacity. Even if there is compliance and residents purchase tags, this is little more than a tax grab as the waste will still go to the landfill.

Though it is clear that there is a problem to be addressed, it is unclear how this plan from staff actually meaningfully addresses it. It shifts the burden onto residents without providing a solution.

Garbage collection is a core service and residents expect it to be delivered consistently to a high service standard. If new costs are to be introduced for residents, there must be a clear benefit. The plan currently proposed by staff provides no benefit, merely kicking the can down the road. 

It is my view that residents should not have to pay more money for poorer quality services simply because the City has been dragging its feet on providing a comprehensive solution to this problem.

A Better Way Forward

Whether or not the proposal from staff is implemented, the Trail Road Landfill will eventually run out of space. Every effort must therefore be made to move quickly to find a solution.

To that end, my preference would be for the City to focus all their efforts right now on exploring waste to energy solution, as I discussed frequently during the 2022 election and in an op ed in the Ottawa Citizen earlier this year.

This solution is cleaner both from a climate change and ecological perspective. It substantially reduces the impacts of waste, including by emitting fewer greenhouse gas emissions than typical landfills; its biggest byproduct is energy that can be used by our grid.

While there are significant capital costs for such a solution, those costs are going to happen eventually. Delaying does not change that. A new landfill would also come with considerable costs, not least of which is the use of a considerable amount of space. Upfront costs can be reduced by seeking private financing for the facility’s ownership or operation or by spreading the capital costs over a longer period through a loan.

And ultimately, if the City can find hundreds of millions dollars for projects such as Lansdowne or the LRT which have limited benefits for our community, surely the City should be able to find the money necessary to deliver efficient, predictable, and sustainable waste collection solutions for the entire City of Ottawa.

Staff are concerned that such a solution may take too long to implement, risking an issue where the Trail Road Landfill becomes full before a solution is implemented. But this timing issue as identified by staff assumes that staff operate at a slow, bureaucratic pace rather than start acting with the urgency that is required.

Realistically, the biggest impediment to a long-term solution is a misallocation of priorities and resources. The effort that was spent developing an unacceptable, unworkable, and punitive approach to expanding the life of the Trail Road Facility could have been better spent by focusing on moving quickly to introduce a waste-to-energy solution.

To that end, I will be using the tools at my disposal as a Councillor along with my colleagues to stop this curbside collection plan and instead prioritize with immediate effect efforts toward implementing a waste-to-energy solution.