Community consultation on Oxford County's Waste Management program

Oxford County is looking for public feedback on possible changes to its waste collection (pick up) program.

Why now?

Changes at the federal and provincial government levels are impacting how we deliver waste management programs locally.

We’re also working to meet goals and objectives in our new Strategic Plan, particularly those aimed at “Enhancing environmental sustainability.”

Your feedback will help influence the next phase of the County’s curbside collection program with the overall goals of optimizing collection routes, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and supporting waste diversion to extend the life of the municipal landfill site.

Community consultation

We want your feedback on the following…

1 - Introduction of curbside collection for organic materials (green bin program)

New provincial regulation requires municipalities with more than 20,000 residents to divert 50% of residential organic waste (food waste, pet waste, paper towels, etc.) from landfills through a curbside collection program or other alternative means.

In Oxford County, this will affect, at a minimum, the City of Woodstock and likely the Town of Tillsonburg.

2 - Household garbage collection frequency

Right now, Oxford County has three different residential collection programs, each with a different collection frequency (schedule for how often waste is collected).

Depending on where you live in the County, your garbage is picked up on different days and on a different frequency cycle.

In looking at different collection options and frequencies, we can support cost efficiencies, lower our carbon footprint through fewer trucks on the road, and increase our waste and organic diversion.

3 - Collection on statutory holidays

Some residents in Oxford County currently receive curbside collection on statutory holidays to minimize disruption to regular weekly pick up schedules in that community.

However, collecting on statutory holidays can present challenges, including:

• conflicts with parades and/or community events
• some businesses need to set out garbage even if closed for a statutory holiday
• some residents who need to set out garbage may be away on a long weekend
• it can affect job retention for collection workers who do not want to work on statutory holidays
• cost of mandatory overtime for waste management staff
• significantly less material (50%) is typically set out for collection on statutory holidays

4 - Collection services delivered in urban versus rural areas

Collecting in higher density areas, like towns and cities, achieves greater economies of scale (cost effectiveness) and collects more tonnage of waste.

Collection costs increase exponentially when collecting in rural areas, as the cost to collect per kilometer is high in comparison to the amount of material collected.

5 - Use of clear bags for garbage collection

Some municipalities in Ontario have implemented the use of clear plastic garbage bags in their curbside collection program.

In this type of program, garbage bags containing more than a certain amount of recyclable or green bin material may not be collected.

This has been found to reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill by encouraging people to sort recycling and organics from regular garbage.

6 - Garbage bag limits

Some municipalities place limits on the number of garbage bags that can be placed at the curb at one time for collection.

This encourages residents to use recycling programs that help reduce the overall amount of waste going to the landfill.