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Big changes coming to garbage collection in Waterloo Region

Garbage collection will happen over four days, using automated carts, beginning in March 2026

Thestar.com
March 22, 2023
Liz Monteiro

Big changes are coming to the way garbage is collected in Waterloo Region.

Beginning in March 2026, garbage and waste from the green bin will be collected at the curb with automated carts, said Olivia Kwok, a waste management supervisor at the Region of Waterloo.

“Residents will roll out garbage and organic carts to the curb where they set their waste now and then instead of a staff member manually by hand, lifting the materials and putting it in the truck, a robotic or mechanical arm will lift and empty the cart contents into the truck,” Kwok said in an interview Tuesday.

Guelph, Peel Region, Toronto and Simcoe County are among the municipalities that use automated carts.

Also coming in 2026, garbage and waste will only be picked four days a week. The main reason for this is to reduce garbage collection on statutory holidays, which often occur on Mondays, she said.

Routes will be “rebalanced” to create more efficiencies throughout the system, Kwok said.

The automated carts will be delivered to single family residences, duplexes and some multi-residential units in the region when the program begins, she said.

The cart program coincides with the end of the region’s current waste collection contract.

The automated carts are more efficient and are safer for workers who don’t have to get out of the trucks, Kwok said.

The biggest efficiency will be “reducing stop times when the trucks pull up,” she said.

“Every time they’re getting in and out and loading and unloading,” she said. There are also safety risks such as slips, trips and falls that will occur less with drivers staying in their trucks.

The region has also been struggling to hire enough staff and to retain waste management workers.

“It’s really hard work. It’s very labour-intensive,” she said. “People do get hurt. Just imagine lifting 800 bags of garbage every day.”

Bulky items, yard waste and Christmas trees will still be handled manually, she said.

According to the 2021 Region of Waterloo’s waste report, 44 per cent of the residential waste collected curbside was garbage and bulky items, 24 per cent blue box, 18 per cent green bin and 14 per cent yard waste.

In March 2024, recycling is going private in the region as part of a provincewide standardization that makes waste producers responsible for recycling.

An industry-led non-profit group called the Circular Materials Organization will pay for and operate the blue box collection program in all Ontario municipalities. The change starts with some municipalities in July and expands to include all cities in less than three years.

Last October, the region reduced the number of garbage bags allowed at the curb from four to three every other week.

Kwok said the reduction is going well. Data collected before the change showed 90 per cent of residents were only putting three bags of garbage or less to the curb.