On May 27, City Council will consider a $35 fee to cover the City’s cost to transport and clean each exchanged blue or grey waste cart, after a 12 week trial period.
A staff report outlining the details of the recommendation was presented yesterday at the Planning, Building, Engineering and Environment Committee.
“Based on last fall’s waste cart rollout, we know 95 per cent of cart exchanges take place in the first 90 days of use,” said Dean Wyman, the City’s general manager of Solid Waste Resources. “Recognizing this, we’re recommending to Council a program that balances residents’ needs for free waste carts exchanges during the first three months and a cost recovery fee for each cart exchange after that.”
A proposed $15 fee, as an alternative to the $35, will be an option for residents willing to clean and transport their own carts.
If approved by Council, neighbourhoods that received carts in 2012 during the first rollout phase will have until July 2 to exchange their carts, without incurring a fee. From that point forward, residents in the second and third phases will have 90 days to exchange their carts before the fee takes effect.
“The winter holiday season—the time of year that generates the greatest amount of residential curbside waste in Guelph—falls within the first three months of cart use,” said Dean Wyman. “This provides residents the opportunity to judge if the cart sizes selected are in fact adequate, when the most waste is put out at their curb.”
All residents have the option to select the size of their blue and grey carts in advance. If size preferences are not identified, the City delivers an extra large blue cart and a large grey cart. Residents scheduled to receive carts this fall are to provide their blue and grey cart size preferences to the City by May 31.
About Guelph’s waste carts program
The City of Guelph is rolling out a new way to collect organics, recyclables and garbage. Carts will be used instead of plastic bags. Using carts will reduce the amount of waste Guelph sends to landfill, lower the City’s operating costs and decrease Guelph’s carbon footprint. The waste cart program is rolling out across the city over three years, each fall, starting in 2012. For more information, visit guelph.ca/waste.