Ottawa’s master plan for solid waste could extend Trail Road landfill life by 14 years

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Ottawa’s Solid Waste Master Plan, with its 50 recommendations for action, could cut the amount of garbage going to the landfill by 31,000 tonnes over the next 30 years, divert a million tonnes more and extend the life of the Trail Road Waste Facility by 14 years.

The plan, approved Tuesday by councillors on the environment and climate change committee, spells out Ottawa’s plan for handling waste and recyclables for the next three decades and builds on more than five years of work on what to do about the city’s garbage. Each year of extra landfill life means an enormous saving for the city.

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“Every single year of landfill life is worth a lot of money. When you convert that time to money, this plan is going to save us $120 million in landfill life,” said Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard, chair of the committee.

“It’s significant. That’s 14 years beyond what we already said the landfill life would be, to 2030. It buys us a lot of time to come up with the next waste solution for Ottawa. It will allow us to save for reserves for the next waste solution. And, then, as well, it increases services to residents.”

The master plan was introduced last November. Tuesday’s version came back to the committee after a winter of public consultation and feedback. It also includes Ottawa’s new three-item trash limit, approved by city council in May, along with other amendments such a plan to make organic waste collection mandatory in multi-residential buildings and a pilot project to improve recycling options in parks.

“It increases service to residents,” Menard said. “An example is the green bin in multi-residential buildings. That’s going to be made mandatory. So everyone who lives in a multi-residential building will have the option to use the green bin.”

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The city also hopes to add more, smaller hazardous waste drop-off sites closer to the city centre for downtown residents who can’t make it out to the large disposal sites on the outskirts — another concession to public feedback.

But the plan comes at a price. In 2024, the city spent $115 million on solid waste operational costs and another $35 million in capital costs, funded through an annual set fee, general property tax revenue and other specialized service fees. That works out to about $201 annually per home or $138 annually for homes in multi-residential units.

The Solid Waste Master Plan forecasts waste collection costs to rise by about $20 million annually by 2031, and its recommendations require $346 million in capital investment.

Even if nothing is done, the cost per household is projected to rise to $219 annually in 2025 and to $355 in 2034, with rates of $155 and $216, respectively, for multi-residential units. The Solid Waste Master Plan recommendations would add about $10 a year on top of that.

Ultimately, however, those fees will be reviewed and set as part of the city’s annual budget deliberations.

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Even so, Ottawa’s waste costs are low compared to other cities, Menard said. Edmontonians, for example, paid $585 per household in 2023. In Toronto, the cost per household was $473, Vancouver $398 and Hamilton $212.

“We have a very low waste fee right now compared to other municipalities of our size across the country,” Menard said. “And it will remain low. It will go up — all cities’ fees will go up as well because you have to manage your waste and that comes with inflation. But our fees are low and they’ll remain low in 10 years time.”

The Solid Waste Master Plan will go before council next week for a final vote.

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