Exploring how we'll pay for waste services in the future
We're striving to deliver on our goal of 75% waste diversion from landfill by 2034. One of the actions in our Roadmap to a Circular Economy is to develop a long-term financial plan that will help pay for future waste services and the infrastructure needed to achieve our waste diversion target.
As part of this process, we conducted in-person and online public workshops to better understand the different perspectives of our residents.
These workshops provided an opportunity for residents to share what was important to them as it relates to the waste services within their municipality. Many echoed that cost, convenience, and the environment were all priorities that they valued and that each of these criteria needed to be strongly considered when assessing changes to the waste collection and processing system.
The feedback that was collected from the public was used to assess and narrow down our options even further.
Key themes emerged from the feedback:
- Incentivizing waste reduction is important to residents.
- Many residents agree with the concept of ‘pay for what you generate’ and is a fair way to charge for waste and encourage waste reduction.
- Residents expressed concerns about illegal dumping and that a balanced approach that incorporates taxes, as well as an affordable user fee, could help to mitigate the issue.
- Increased revenue generation for new waste management programs and infrastructure needs should not come at an additional cost to residents.
- Any user-pay charges should be offset by a reduction in property taxes.
- Many residents indicated that they are supportive of the current bin collection system and that any user-pay model should incorporate the use of bins.
We will share the dates for the next round of waste online public workshops once they are finalized.
The world of waste is changing, and we want you to continue sharing your thoughts on what you think is important.
For more information on the first phase of public consultations, email Waste management.
