Starting Monday, December 2, any curbside garbage set out above the three-item garbage limit must be placed in a City of Ottawa yellow bag. Yellow bags are sold at various locations across the city in packages of four for $17.60, and there is no limit to the number of yellow bags that can be purchased and set out on garbage day. As a reminder, large bulky items and furniture cannot be bagged.
Below are the data results on the number of courtesy tags left during the first eight weeks of implementation:
Collection period | Number of properties that received curbside waste collection | Percent tagged having oversized bins | Percent tagged having over three-item limit |
Week 1(Monday September 30 – Friday October 4) | 153,248 curbside properties | 0.41% | 1.79% |
Week 2 (Monday October 7 – Friday October 11) | 157,866 curbside properties | 0.30% | 1.03% |
Week 3(Tuesday October 15 – Saturday October 19) | 153,248 curbside properties
| 0.22% | 0.41% |
Week 4(Monday October 21 – Friday October 25) | 157,866 curbside properties
| 0.15% | 0.30% |
Week 5(Monday October 28 – Friday November 1) | 153,248 curbside properties
| 0.09% | 0.16% |
Week 6 (Monday November 4 – Friday November 8) | 157,866 curbside properties
| 0.08% | 0.98% |
Week 7(Monday November 11 – Friday November 15) | 153,248 curbside properties
| 0.04% | 0.62% |
Week 8 (Monday November 18 – Friday November 22) | 157,866 curbside properties | 0.03% | 0.72% |
A reminder that if a bin over the 140L limit is used for garbage set-out, or if properties set out an amount over the three-item garbage limit during the month of November, Solid Waste staff will leave a courtesy tag.
Following a motion by Councillor Kelly, carried by Council, on October 30, courtesy tagging for bins over the 140L limit will continue for the next 6 months, until May 2, 2025, allowing residents time to obtain new bins that comply with the bin size standards outlined in the Solid Waste By-law.
Courtesy tags have been used to educate residents on waste disposal allowances in the past and will continue to be used moving forward to support residents in adapting to this policy change.
