In June 2023, City Council approved reductions to curbside waste limits and decided it would now enforce bin size and lid restrictions. This passed Council 20-2, with me being one of the two votes against these changes. You can see my interventions at Council that day and my proposed solutions here.
Since the implementation of this change in September, I, along with other rural councillors have been hearing from residents who have received notices of violation based on the size of their bin (being over 140L) as well as the fact that the lids on those bins are not removable. They have received these notices even though the amount of garbage in the bins is well under the new 99 pound/3 item limit.
While the 140L limit on garbage bins has actually been in place for over a decade, it was never enforced, and because of this, many were completely unaware of the limit. At the same time, their waste has been collected from these bins for many years with no issues. I have heard from many residents who are, rightfully, upset that they have been asked to change their bins based on the City's by-law, while no 140L bins exist on the market currently. I don't believe it is fair to sanction people for their oversized bins until an affordable and viable solution is actually available.
Many residents in the rural areas and elsewhere in the city require solid bins that have tops and wheels, and with the passing of my motion, it will allow for the market to catch up with the new policy. I will acknowledge that this motion (a six-month exemption) will not go as far as many of my residents would have liked, but with the original decision being 20-2 and today's motion only passing by two votes, I truly believe that we have achieved all that we can on this file.
The agricultural community should also know that today Council also approved a year-long exemption to the new solid waste limits for agricultural properties. During that time, solid waste staff will be working with farmers to find a solution that works for them.
I realize the angst these decisions on curbside waste collection have caused many residents of Ward 5, but I can assure you that I have done all I can to avoid this and have tried to make positive changes where I could.
The passing of my motion gives us more time and makes this shift in solid waste policy more fair for residents. It also gives city staff time to find a solution for what to do with all the oversized bins If they end up in the landfill this will certainly not help us reach our goal of diverting more waste from the landfill.
I want to thank Councillor Brown and Councillor Kitts for bringing forward the motion on agriculture as well as Councilor Darouze for seconding my motion, and to him and his office for their work on it and of course Councillor Luloff who contributed to both conversations.
Here is my motion from today's (Oct. 30, 2024) City Council meeting - first video and then the document.
