Options for Garbage, Recycling and Organics
Increasing our diversion, providing a uniform level of service for garbage, recycling and organics throughout the city and supporting the licensing process for Brady Landfill are some of the main goals for the Garbage and Recycling Master Plan.
There are many short, mid and long-term options to raise our diversion. Getting to 50% can't happen overnight, but there are a lot of things we could do over the next few years that would get us most of the way there.
| Program or goal (Preliminary concept) | within 5 years | within 10 years |
|---|---|---|
| Community recovery depots | X | |
| Increased recycling services | X | |
| Equivalent garbage collection service | X | |
| Yard waste composting program | X | |
| Organic waste program | X | |
| Increased diversion - 35%-45% | X | |
| Increased diversion - over 50% | X |
What can we do?
We currently divert 17% of our residential waste. Within the next 5 years, we have the potential to increase that to at least 37%. In the next 5 to 20 years we can build on earlier successes and work towards increasing our diversion to more than 50%.
The following options are based on the Guiding Principles of the Plan developed in Phase 1 and follow the Waste Hierarchy of: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover and Residuals (disposal).
Reducing & Reusing
- Prevents material from entering the waste stream
- Targets durable goods that don't belong in the waste stream
- Diverts up to 10,000 tonnes per year (additional 3%)
Recycling
- Provides a blue recycling cart or a blue box to each single family home
- Diverts up to 72,000 tonnes per year (additional 7%)
Recovering
- Establish community depots to recover and reuse valuable items from the waste stream - diverts another 3% per depot
- Implement curbside yard waste collection - diverts another 1 - 6%
- Implement curbside organics collection - diverts another 12%
Residuals (garbage disposal)
- Implement a fair and uniform garbage service
- Recommend automated collection system
- Recommend phasing out AutoBins
Brady Landfill
All of these options would result in positive changes and impacts to Brady Landfill.
- less garbage buried requires less long term care of facility
- less toxic liquids to be captured and treated
- less greenhouse gas emissions
- extends lifespan of landfill
Where can I learn more?
- View the Open House material
- Keep visiting the SpeakUp blog where we'll be posting updates throughout Phase 2
- Download the Consultant's Options Report (PDF)
There will also be open houses and round tables in March where you'll have an opportunity to provide feedback and ask City staff questions. See the Events Calendar for more information.
Video Transcript
Hi, I'm Darryl Drohomerski, Manager of Solid Waste Services for the City of Winnipeg.
Last fall, Winnipeggers shared their vision for garbage and recycling services for Winnipeg.
There were several important themes the came out of this. Residents told us they wanted:
- More ways to divert our waste, especially organics,
- A uniform level of service for garbage, recycling and organics collection throughout the city, and
- Better services for recycling collection from single family homes.
Based on what we heard, we've developed some options for garbage, recycling and organic programs in Winnipeg that we need your feedback on.
These options will help us:
- Reduce the amount of garbage we produce,
- Increase the amount we recycle and compost, and
- Reduce the harmful effects of burying garbage in our landfill.
We invite you to learn about these options and to give us your feedback here on SpeakUpWinnipeg.com or at open houses and round tables in March.
Thanks again and let's continue the conversation.
Posted in Phase 2, Speaking Up Tagged with: Brady Road Landfill, composting, garbage, public participation, recycling, video, waste management