Got extra garbage, Aurora residents? Get ready to pay for additional trash bags

Aurora households take more waste to the curb than any northern York Region town

Yorkregion.com
July 26, 2021

Starting next January, you’ll still be able to put three garbage bags out for free on collection days but you’ll have to pay for any more.

A new bag tag program will charge residents $5 a bag if they throw out four, five or six bags.

Six bags is the maximum, although the town will allow more in exceptional circumstances, such as when someone is moving.

Last January, the town had set a limit of three bags, with no exceptions. But it has now modified the policy to allow as many as six bags, with tags needed for the additional three.

“The purpose of the bag tag program is to balance residents’ needs with the town’s commitment to environmental sustainability,” the town said in a statement.

Aurora households put out more trash per capita than any of the municipalities in northern York Region, although the amount dropped after the three-bag limit was imposed, Allan Downey, director of operational services, said.

Opinion on the bag tag program appears to be split, according to Facebook posts.

Some are calling it a cash grab and worry about people illegally dumping extra bags, while others say three free bags and three more at $5 apiece is an ample limit and encourages people to reduce and recycle more.