Bi-weekly garbage pickup considered by Waterloo Region

Residential garbage pickup every other week and curbside garbage bag limits are some of the ideas Waterloo Region is considering in an effort to increase the use of its green bin program.

Regional Chair Ken Seiling says this is because the region is not meeting a provincial target for how much waste it is diverting from landfills.

"We have an unofficial target of waste diversion of 60 per cent from the province," said Seiling. "Were at about 53 per cent."

At the current diversion rate, the Waterloo Region landfill could be at capacity sometime between 2028 and 2031.

Currently, the regionproduces around 10,000 tonnes of organic waste. But it has a deal with the city of Guelph to pay it $2.3 million a year every 10 years to handle up to 20,000 tonnes of organic waste annually meaning organic waste is only being processed at half the capacity it could.

Green bin update expected in May

Cari Rastas Howard, a waste management project manager for Waterloo Region, says the region is considering ideas from other municipalities toget more people to use the green bin.

These include bi-weekly pickups for garbage and weekly pickups for green bins, as well as a limit to how many garbage bags can be placed on a curb.

But making green bins mandatory is not an option, since the province has not banned organic waste from landfills.

Rastas Howard adds that 60 per cent of what is found in garbage bags could be recycled or composted.

"If everyone managed to put everything that could go in the blue box and the green bin, our waste diversion rate would be at 80 per cent," said Rastas Howard.

Rastas Howard says an update on the status of the green bin program is expected to be presented to council in May.

A waste management master plan which includes different incentive options will be presented to regional council in the fall.