Update on Curbside Garbage Collection
Recently, the City has begun rolling out the new three-item limit curbside garbage collection policy. Some folks have been reaching out for information about what the new policy means for them.
Please note: if you have an issue with collection, the fastest way to have it addressed is to file a request with 3-1-1. If you do not receive timely assistance from the City, please reach out to my office at ward21@ottawa.ca.
For some background, the three-item limit was not my preferred policy. My strong preference was to maintain the status quo (which allowed folks to set out as much garbage as they produced) and expedite a waste-to-energy solution for Ottawa that would solve our waste management issues once and for all.
The issue was that my Council colleagues disagreed with me. In fact, they wanted a much stricter, much more expensive bag-tagging regime that would have been impossible for farmers. The 3-item limit was a compromise that allows residents to set out over 3,000 more litres of garbage per year than they would be allowed to under what City staff proposed before paying more for tags.
Moreover, I am working on further enhancements to curbside collection to better accommodate rural residents and farmers. Specifically, I am looking to introduce more flexibility for what kinds of bins are acceptable for collection, create a better exemption program for farmers, and develop a specific rural strategy for curbside collection that better suits the unique needs of our rural communities—more on these ideas below.
With that in mind, I wanted to address some common questions and concerns that my office has received.
What exactly is the new policy?
On garbage collection day, households with curbside collection can place their blue bins, green bins and up to three-items of garbage for collection at the curb.
A garbage item includes:
A garbage bag
A container up to 140 litres weighing no more than 33lbs
A bulky item (such as a carpet, couch, desk, mattress, etc.)
Households can put several smaller bags in containers up to 140 litres.
This is to say: the new policy is not a “bag limit” – it is an item limit.
Any garbage above the three-item limit must be placed in a yellow bag. If it cannot be recycled, composted, reused, or repaired, you can purchase a yellow bag. Keep in mind, that large bulky items and furniture cannot be bagged.
Extra waste that is not placed in a yellow bag will not be picked up. A “courtesy tag” will be left by Solid Waste Staff explaining why your waste was not picked up and you will be responsible for the disposal.
As always: green bins, blue bins, and yard waste do not count toward your item total. The item limit is only for garbage items.
Learn more here: Garbage | City of Ottawa
What kinds of bins are compliant?
The by-law has for many years specified what kinds of bins are compliant. Though the 3-item limit is new, the provisions for what kinds of bins are technically permitted have been on the books for some time. For a garbage bin to be compliant it must:
Contain up to a maximum of 140 litres capacity
Have at least one handle
Weigh no more than 15 kilograms / 33 pounds when full. The weight includes the container and the contents.
Be made of plastic or metal
A full list of provisions for what bins are acceptable can be found here: Solid Waste Management (By-law No. 2012-370) | City of Ottawa
The reason for these restrictions is to ensure that operators can safely lift the bins consistently across the City. Though these provisions of the by-law have not historically been strictly enforced, staff have let our office know that they will be enforced moving forward.
My office is working on adjusting these rules so that a greater number of bins that have historically received collection will continue to receive those services.
How will yellow bags work?
Starting in November 2024, waste that cannot be recycled or composted but that would push you over the three-item garbage limit must be placed in a yellow bag.
Yellow Bags will be available for purchase at the end of October 2024 at a number of retail locations and City facilities across the city. Retail addresses for where yellow bags can be purchased will be shared when bags are available for sale at the end of October 2024.
Yellow bags are sold in packages of four for $17.60 which is $4.40 per bag. Though this is slightly more expensive per item than what staff had advised under their proposed bag tag system ($3 per bag), the three-item limit provides a better baseline of service before additional user fees are incurred. For instance, a resident who disposes of 4 items every two weeks and purchases a yellow bag for every garbage day would end up paying over $40 more annually under the bag tag system. Plus, a resident who disposes of 3 items every week is saving about $70 more annually than they would under the staff-proposed bag tag system.
What is the timeline for implementation?
Residents will receive notices when they set out more than 3 items of garbage or when one of their items is not by-law compliant. Starting in November, items in excess of the by-law limit or non-compliant items will not be collected.
What is being done about illegal dumping?
While the City transitions to a 3-item curbside garbage collection limit, the City will be enhancing monitoring and investigating illegal dumping of household waste in public spaces and on private property.
Report illegal dumping found in a City park, private property, along roads, or other City facilities
What about unavoidable farm waste?
As always, unavoidable farm waste from registered farms can be brought to the Trail Road Landfill for disposal, free of charge.
Under the three-item limit policy, there is an Agriculture Exemption Program. Registered agricultural properties with residential households using curbside collection are exempt from the three-item garbage limit from April 1 to May 31 every year.
To qualify for this exemption, agricultural properties must use the waste diversion programs during garbage collection. This means that households should be using their green bins and blue/black recycling bins. Bins must be set out for collection on garbage collection day to receive the three-item garbage limit exemption in the spring.
Recognizing that much of the waste that is produced on-farm is unavoidable, my office is working on providing new direction to staff that would allow greater flexibility for farmers throughout the year.
What else is the Councillor working on?
I am not satisfied that provisions respecting bin size are being more strictly enforced. My understanding based on conversations with staff when the by-law changes were initially contemplated was that there was to be no change in the enforcement of the container size limits and that residents who have set out bins in the past would continue receiving collection into the future.
Even so, recognizing that some bins are unsafe for operators to handle, I am proposing a compromise.
Rather than prohibiting a bin based on its maximum volume (currently set at 140L), I am proposing that a maximum volume within a bin be permitted. It is a subtle difference, but to give an example, say you were to set out a 180L bin with one small, light garbage bag of 30L within it. Technically, that bin is not compliant with the by-law at present.
What I am proposing to fix it would be that the volume of the contents is what matters. In my proposal, a total of 140L within that 180L bin would still be acceptable for collection. Bin weight restrictions and other provisions (such as height and width) would still regulate the size of the bins that can be set out, but this would allow greater flexibility for residents who have somewhat larger bins.
My job before working in politics was on local dairy farms. I still have daily farm chores (mostly with chickens these days) so I certainly know better than most just how much unavoidable waste is produced on farms and just how the exemption for agricultural operators likely is not sufficient. I am working with my colleagues right now to see if I can improve the exemption for farmers.
I am developing a proposal that would allow operating farms to set out an unlimited amount of unavoidable farm waste at their curbside.. If my motion is passed at Committee, it will be considered at Council the week following; if it is passed there, we will have succeeded in ensuring that farmers do not have to worry about the unavoidable waste that they generate while putting food on our tables.
Lastly, I am also seeking to direct staff to work with the Rural Affairs office to design a separate Rural Solid Waste Strategy. As is often the case, the urban solutions that have been imposed on rural Ottawa are not working for rural residents, especially farmers, so this new strategy would make sure that rural Ottawa’s needs are properly respected when it comes to garbage collection.
Is there any other help that the City can provide?
The City has a number of tools available to residents to help with waste collection, including holiday collection schedules, information about bringing waste to the Train Road Landfill, information about how to file a complaint when there is an issue with collection, waste explorer tools, special consideration programs, and much more.
Learn more: Garbage | City of Ottawa