Regional politicians voted May 26 on new garbage collection rules but the move has been a long time in the making, with work starting in 2012 on the Waste Management Master Plan.
Politicians are considering two options —one has already been endorsed by some politicians and was earlier recommended by staff.
Option one would see garbage collected every other week, with a limit of up to four bags. Recycling and green bins would be collected every week.
Option two would see garbage, green bins and blue bins collected every week, with a limit of up to two garbage bags.
With both options yard waste would be picked up twice a month from April to November. Large appliances, up to three, would be picked up every two weeks. The existing special and downtown business services would continue.
Residents would have to pay a fee for extra bags of garbage.
Staff say Option 1 could save up to $1.5 million annually and Option 2 up to $750,000.
New rules would go into effect in 2017 when current waste collection contracts end but approval is slated for May 26 so garbage contractors have time to adapt to the new collection routine.
Ahead of the decision later this month, here's a look at key studies, decisions and public input that lead to the proposed cuts.
The master plan
In November 2013 politicians endorsed the 20-year Waste Management Master Plan that emphasized sustainable practices and diversion.
The last plan was completed in 1986.
Proposed changes to garbage collection flow directly from the document.
A new look at waste management here is driven by several factors including shrinking revenues, environmental goals and a desire to extend the life of the Erb Street landfill, which has an estimated 20 years of capacity left.
According to a regional report at the time the plan was approved about 119 of 230 Ontario municipalities had some form of user-pay system for garbage.
The green bin contract
Politicians say they want more residents to use their green bins to divert waste from the landfill but that proposed collection cuts have nothing to do with a costly organics processing contract with the City of Guelph.
Since October 2013, the region has paid $2.3 million annually to Guelph to process green bin waste.
The price is based on 20,000 tonnes per year being trucked there, at $116.82 per tonne. If the region doesn't meet its target, it still pays the $2.3 million. The region is barely collecting 9,000 tonnes now.
The public
More than 7,500 people told the region what they think about garbage here in late 2014 and early 2015 through telephone and online surveys, email and other forms of feedback.
In a regional telephone survey of 511 people that staff consider representative of the average citizen of the region, 68 per cent said two bags of garbage would be a good limit if there was weekly garbage pickup.
Thirty-five per cent said three to four bags would work for garbage collection every two weeks and 34 per cent of people said they would prefer at least five bags of garbage permitted if it's only collected every other week.
The top three concerns about bi-weekly bag collection residents had, according to the phone and online survey were smell, storage and animals.
About 41 per cent of residents said they would buy bag tags if they had extra garbage.
The other 59 per cent said they would store the garbage or use waste transfer stations.
Some have criticized the survey, suggesting the questions were limiting.
At a public input meeting earlier this month 10 residents told politicians what they think of the plans.
It was a mix between those who said they already pay for garbage with property taxes and shouldn't be charged additional fees and those who support the changes or even further limits.
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