Thursday February 9: Special county meeting on waste management

AWARE News Network

Simcoe County Council gathers on Thursday, February 9th at 9 a.m. at the Simcoe County Museum for a special workshop related to Solid Waste Management.

Excerpt from Staff Overview (Report #1) CO – 17-002

The County’s Solid Waste Management Strategy was completed and approved by Council in June 2010. The original strategy recommended updates be undertaken periodically as the twenty year Strategy planning period could not predict the evolution of the waste industry, potential legislative changes, waste composition changes, etc., nor could it reasonably provide timelines beyond five years.

The first Strategy Update commenced in 2015 when Item CCW 15-021 (January 27, 2015) outlined the process to be followed. HDR Inc., the Strategy Update consulting firm, subsequently provided a Technical Memorandum outlining the potential options and initiatives which were presented to Council at a special Strategy Update meeting through Item CCW 15-405 (December 8, 2015).

At this meeting, a suite of waste management options were presented for consideration. Council broke into working groups to discuss the options presented and reported back to Council their feedback on the various options; those that they wished to take off the table, and those that they wished to move forward for public consultation. Public consultation on the various options, concentrating on those short listed by Council, occurred in May 2016; comments and formal feedback garnered were considered and supplementary options identified were also included in the Strategy Update – Final Recommendations and Initiatives presented through CCW 16-284 (August 23, 2016).

The Strategy Update was approved by Council on September 13, 2016. The original Strategy and the Strategy Update are considered roadmaps; guiding documents which contain recommendations on various components of an integrated waste management system for the County. Once the ‘roadmaps’ are approved, staff seek Council direction with respect to each of the various recommended initiatives during the planning period.

As such, on September 27, 2016, staff presented six reports for Council consideration so that funds for any or all of the programs which Council chose to implement could be included in the 2017 budget process. The six staff reports included four which came directly out of the approved Strategy Update: Item CCW 16-329 Mandatory Diversion By-law, Item CCW 16-330 Standard Size Garbage Container, Item CCW 16-331 Reducing the Curbside Garbage Limit, Item CCW 16-332 Reduce Double Up Program; one which expanded on a recommendation within the approved Strategy – Item CCW 16-333 Textile Collection Pilot Program; and one which although not contained in the Strategy, met with the Strategies goal of increased diversion – Item CCW 16-334 Electronics Collection Program.

Council directed that a workshop be held and that the six reports be referred to the workshop. The six referred reports are addressed in a separate Item CO 17-004 (Report #3) on the February 9, 2017 workshop agenda along with a number of other subjects which Council members expressed interest in learning about at the workshop. At the September 27, 2016 meeting and since then at a number of Council and Committee meetings, various Council members have made comment with respect to reconsideration of waste collection options which had been removed from consideration during the December 8, 2015 session.

This Item, and the workshop presentation by staff and Janine Ralph of HDR Inc., therefore provides a summary of all of the waste collection options for Council’s consideration:

•Clear garbage bags (removed from consideration by Council, December 8, 2015)) •Bag tag price increase (removed from consideration by Council, December 8, 2015)

•Full pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) (removed from consideration by Council, December 8, 2015)

•Bi-weekly garbage collection (removed from consideration by Council, December 8, 2015)

•Automated cart collection (removed from consideration by Council, December 8, 2015)

•Single stream recycling collection (removed from consideration by Council, December 8, 2015)

•Provision of a standard sized garbage container (approved in Strategy Update, September 13, 2016)

•Reduction in the overall garbage limit (approved in Strategy Update, September 13, 2016) •Reduction of Double-up days (approved in Strategy Update, September 13, 2016)

•Mandatory diversion by-law (approved in Strategy Update, September 13, 2016)

•Expand green bin program to include pet waste and diapers (approved in Strategy Update, September 13, 2016)

•Implement a rewards program (approved in Strategy Update, September 13, 2016)

Staff will also be providing a brief presentation with respect to our current system and performance. Additionally, Dave Gordon of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario will be speaking with respect to the Waste Free Ontario Act and its anticipated impacts on municipalities. There will be opportunities for group discussion and an activity to determine which, if any, of all the waste collection options identified above throughout the Strategy Update process Council intends to move forward on.

Staff notes that many of the options identified above are complex in nature, some of the options could be implemented in tandem with others or as stand-alone programs. Detailed implementation plans will therefore be reported to Council based on the option(s) directed for furtherance at the workshop. This future report(s) will also provide an adjusted diversion target based on Council’s program choice(s).

Additionally, a further referred Item CCW 16-352 (October 11, 2016), related to the summer 2016 collection impacts, sought direction to adjust the collection day for a portion of Severn Township from Monday to Wednesday to better balance resources across the week. A decision on this routing change was referred to the workshop and is required so that residents can be adequately notified prior to the summer of 2017. This report will be addressed in a separate Item CO-17-003 (Report #2) on the February 9, 2017 workshop agenda.