Solid Waste Master Plan

Today staff held a technical briefing to share the Curbside Waste Diversion Policy report recommendations with Council ahead of the report going to the Environment and Climate Change Committee on June 5, 2023 and Council on June 14, 2023.

The report is now available to the public, here are the links to view the report and its supporting documents:

• Curbside Waste Diversion Policy report (English)
• Curbside Waste Diversion Policy report (French)
• Supporting document / appendix 1/A
• Supporting document / appendix 2/B

We would like to take this opportunity to thank residents of Ottawa for your feedback on curbside garbage collection options! As you will see in the report, the feedback received played an important role in shaping the recommendations being presented for Committee and Council consideration.

Results from Engagement Series 2 and further analyses on the impacts of the various Waste Plan actions are being incorporated into the draft plan. The plan will lay out when each of the 57 actions could be implemented and their potential impacts on the goals of the plan.

A ‘What We Learned Report’ will be posted to Engage Ottawa soon that presents feedback from Engagement Series 2 and details how the feedback was used to adapt the draft plan.

The draft plan will be tabled in Q3 2023 and a final engagement round (Engagement Series 3) will take place in Q4 2023 to obtain input on the draft. Council will consider the final Solid Waste Master Plan that incorporates all the feedback we collected in Q1 2024.

The City of Ottawa would like to thank all the residents and stakeholders who participated in Engagement Series 2. We heard from over 4,500 residents through the public survey, online dialogue sessions, and focus groups. The feedback received will be used to develop the draft Waste Plan, which will be presented to Committee and Council in Q3 of 2023.

STAY TUNED: A “What We Learned Report” outlining the results from this round of engagement will be posted this upcoming fall. If the draft Waste Plan is approved by Council, the next round of engagement (ES3) will begin in Q4 of 2023.

STAY ENGAGED: Subscribe here to get future notifications related to the Solid Waste Master Plan.

Find below links to the two-pagers for background on the engagement series and how the City will use your feedback:

• English
• French
• Arabic
• Farsi
• Nepali
• Somali
• Spanish
• Chinese
• Anishinaabemowin
• Inuktitut

Public Survey: March 7^th – May 8^th

Please note: you do not need to sign up or register through Engage Ottawa to participate in the survey. If you are experiencing technical difficulties with the survey, please contact us at wasteplan@ottawa.ca.

Do you want to participate in an online survey to provide your input on the Waste Plan options? Survey links and information on the public survey can be found below.

Is there anything I should read before completing the survey?

It is recommended to read the survey consultation toolkit.

Where can I complete the survey?

UPDATE AS OF MAY 9TH: SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED, LINKS HAVE BEEN DISABLED.

To complete the survey, choose the language of your choice below:

• English
• French
• Arabic
• Farsi
• Nepali
• Somali
• Spanish
• Chinese
• Anishinaabemowin
• Inuktitut
  
  

Public Meetings and Discussion Groups:

Want to join a public discussion group or information session to learn more and provide feedback on the Waste Plan options? Registration links to sign up for the sessions can be found below. All sessions will be facilitated in both English and French.

REGISTRATION FOR ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS IS NOW OPEN!

Focus Groups:

Are you a young person, older adult, racialized resident, a new immigrant, person living with disabilities, or a member of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community? The City of Ottawa is organizing smaller group information sessions to discuss the Solid Waste Master Plan Options. The structure of the focus group will be an information session on the Waste Plan options, a period for question and answers, followed by a small discussion on how the Waste Plan options directly impact your community. If you are a member of this community and would like to attend a focus group, please register below:

Councillor Hosted Engagement Sessions:

In 2021 Council approved the plans vision, guiding principles and goals. A long list of options was also developed in 2021 to meet the needs and gaps of the City’s current waste management system. That long list was then evaluated using an approach that looked at the environmental, social and financial considerations of each option. We are now engaging on the resulting short list of options.

Which Options Made It to the Short List?

We started with a Long List of Options which were evaluated using a triple bottom line evaluation tool and short-listed. To see which options made it through, and which ones didn't, see Table 4 in the Evaluation Memo.

How will feedback be used?

Feedback from the public will be used to help develop a “system” of options that will be included in the draft Waste Plan. This feedback will be considered alongside:

• input from internal stakeholders at the City.
• the results of a financial analysis of the options. This will explore how affordable the options are and what the impact could be to Ottawa residents.

We will also need to consider:

• any changes to provincial and federal government legislation that could have an impact on how we implement some of the options (for example, the federal government’s single-use plastics ban)
• any lasting impacts on the waste generation habits of Ottawa’s residents due to COVID-19.
• the implementation timing of some options may not be as flexible due to contract restrictions, approval process, construction timelines etc.

Next steps

• A “What We Learned” report will be developed to outline what was learned through Engagement Series 2 and how feedback will be used.
• In Q1 2023, staff plan on tabling the draft Waste Plan for Committee and Council’s receipt.
• Once complete, staff will undertake the third and final Engagement Series for the project, which will include consulting with Councillors, residents and key stakeholders on the proposed final Waste Plan before it is presented to Committee and Council for consideration in Q2 2023.

Engagement Series 2 of the Solid Waste Master Plan will be starting in March 2022 and we can’t wait to hear from you! We will be hosting a variety of themed dialogue sessions, focus groups and an online survey, topics covered include:

• New and creative ways to avoid, reduce, and reuse waste
• Multi-residential properties’ green bin use
• How to improve our recycling programs
• How we manage garbage and recycling in City parks
• Role of technology and innovation
• Financial considerations
• Turning waste into renewable energy
• Education and enforcement

We want to know how far, how fast, and at what cost we should go.

Engagement will run 5 weeks and we will ask about various Waste Plan options, presented in the Phase 2 report.

Subscribe to our newsletter for more updates on the project.

We’re bringing you the rest of the Waste Plan options this Winter! We engaged on Curbside Garbage Collection first so that we could focus on these important potential changes that could affect the way your garbage is collected. We are analyzing all of the feedback received and will share a “What We Learned” report later this year.

Waste Plan options being presented for engagement this Fall include more ideas to encourage diversion of waste from landfill, reduce and reuse waste, improve collection of waste in multi-residential buildings and parks, expand promotion and education ideas, improve the management of food and organics, and much, much more. Check back later this Winter for an update!

The survey is now closed, thank you for participating. A “What we Learned Report” will be released later this year, stay tuned! Please join us this Fall when we start engagement on the second phase of the Solid Waste Master Plan.

Waste Plan options engagement has started and Curbside Garbage Collection Options are up first!

Complete the survey and/or sign up for a workshop to have a say in how garbage gets collected from your home in the future.

This survey focuses on just three Waste Plan options to help us increase waste diversion from the landfill. All other Waste Plan options will be presented for engagement in the Fall and will include ideas to reduce and reuse waste, improve collection of waste in multi-residential buildings and parks, improve the management of food and organics, and much, much more!!

Reducing garbage at the curbside is crucial to help achieve our vision of a Zero Waste Ottawa.

More than half of what people in Ottawa throw in the garbage could be recycled or composted.

We know we can do better.

If we rethink how we collect garbage at the curb, we can reduce emissions, extend the life of the landfill, and turn more waste into new products and resources.

The options we’re exploring include partial pay-as-you-throw (PAYT), clear garbage bags with material bans and reduced firm item limits.

You can also explore the purpose of this project, how options were developed and key considerations when it comes to education and enforcement approaches for these options.

We're on it!

Thanks to everyone for sending us your questions. We want to make sure we get you the best answer we can and due to the increase in volume, we'll need 5 business days to respond. We're loving these questions so keep them coming!

Residents requiring accessibility accommodations or paper surveys can contact Elizabeth Cybulski at 613-580-2424 extension 23202.

On July 7, 2021, City of Ottawa Council approved the Zero Waste vision presented by Public Works and Environmental Services as a part of the Solid Waste Master Plan Phase 2 Report.

Opportunities to share your feedback on the Solid Waste Master Plan are coming soon. Sign up for the eNewsletter to stay in the loop on how to participate.

The report will be presented to the Standing Committee on Environmental Protection, Water and Waste Management on June 29, 2021. On July 7, 2021 it will seek Council’s approval on the Waste Plan’s proposed vision, guiding principles and goals. The report will also provide Council members with key information about the City’s future waste management needs. This includes a long list of options to meet those needs, and a technical evaluation tool to assess the options. Wrapping up the report is an overview of what’s next for the SWMP – for example a new engagement series, coming to you this fall.

If you participated in last year’s public engagement activities and shared your thoughts about the City’s waste management practices, you may be particularly interested in the appended 'As We Heard It' report. The report summarizes the feedback from residents and various stakeholder groups received through surveys and online dialogue sessions, and indicates how it was used to influence the development of the Plan to date.

Technical documents are provided in the language of production and are translated upon request.