Solid Waste Master Plan
The City is developing a new Solid Waste Master Plan, to be completed in 2023. The plan will guide how we manage solid waste over the next 30 years. As Ottawa grows and changes, we want to ensure our waste services evolve to meet new needs and challenges. This page will be your hub for updates and opportunities to provide feedback.
Nothing has been decided yet – your input counts!
Managing solid waste is a shared responsibility, and every resident has a part to play. That’s why, over the next two years, we need meaningful conversations with you to help ensure the new Solid Waste Master Plan works for everyone.
If you require assistance or are experiencing technical problems with this page, please contact us at wasteplan@ottawa.ca.
The City is developing a new Solid Waste Master Plan, to be completed in 2023. The plan will guide how we manage solid waste over the next 30 years. As Ottawa grows and changes, we want to ensure our waste services evolve to meet new needs and challenges. This page will be your hub for updates and opportunities to provide feedback.
Nothing has been decided yet – your input counts!
Managing solid waste is a shared responsibility, and every resident has a part to play. That’s why, over the next two years, we need meaningful conversations with you to help ensure the new Solid Waste Master Plan works for everyone.
If you require assistance or are experiencing technical problems with this page, please contact us at wasteplan@ottawa.ca.
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Hello!
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkMy name is Annie and I am very excited to be the newest member of the Solid Waste Master Plan team. I will be the human behind the Engage Ottawa posts and updates you'll see this summer and fall. There's going to be a lot of new content coming to the platform and I hope that you'll enjoy engaging on these next stages of the master plan. You can still reach out to us via email at wasteplan@ottawa.ca or by using the "Question" feature on our page.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkby Cathryne Lillian Milburn (City of Ottawa),Find the answers to some of your frequently asked questions here.
What is a Solid Waste Master Plan?
A City’s Solid Waste Master Plan helps us anticipate and respond to future waste-management needs. It ensures the City operates a fiscally responsible, socially accepted and environmentally conscious waste-management system.
Why do we need a Solid Waste Master Plan in Ottawa?Over the next 30 years, Ottawa’s population will grow by almost 50 percent, an increase of an estimated 400,000. Ottawa’s plan will ensure that waste is managed in the most sustainable way possible. It will give our residents and businesses the options and alternatives they need to make better waste-management choices.
What will be in the Solid Waste Master Plan?
The plan will outline approaches to increase both curbside and multi-residential waste diversion. It will cover a variety of waste-management policies and include strategies for:
- waste prevention and reuse
- regulation of the waste industry
- resource recovery
- residual management
The plan will also consider the City’s role within the wider context of what’s happening provincially, federally and globally on such issues as:
- the shift to a circular economy
- individual producer responsibility for products and packaging
- reliance on single-use plastics
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Questions about the Solid Waste Plan
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkby Cathryne Lillian Milburn (City of Ottawa),Do you have a question about the Solid Waste Plan? Ask them using our question and answer tool here.
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Why is the Waste Plan needed and what are the key considerations?
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkby Cathryne Lillian Milburn (City of Ottawa),What is a Solid Waste Master Plan? Why is it needed in Ottawa? What are the key considerations for the Waste Plan? Read on to find out.
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What will be included and how will it be developed?
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkby Cathryne Lillian Milburn (City of Ottawa),The Solid Waste Master Plan (Waste Plan) will establish a planning framework and strategic direction for the management of waste from:
- Curbside residential
- Multi-residential
- Parks and public spaces
- City facilities
- Partner programs and other non-City waste
The Waste Plan will examine the limited life span of the Trail Waste Facility, how the City collects and processes waste and how it will continue to increase diversion rates. It will also look at broader policy issues like single-use plastics, alternative technologies, greenhouse gas emissions and circular economy programs like green procurement. Funding mechanisms and legislative tools and instruments will also be examined.
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New! How we have engaged so far
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkEngagement Series 1
From May to September 2020, staff, Councillors, residents and stakeholders were engaged to get input on how waste is currently managed in Ottawa and what they would like to see in the future. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff modified the Waste Plan’s engagement process so that all in-person engagement tactics were replaced with virtual methods. To ensure these activities connected with as many residents and stakeholders as possible, staff carried out a range of tactics, including:
• Virtual dialogue sessions with interested residents and stakeholders that included breakout sessions to allow small group discussions
• Virtual focus groups to connect with specific stakeholders, particularly those within the City’s equity and inclusion lens
• Virtual workshops with key stakeholders, such as the Stakeholder Sounding Board (more on this below)
• Online surveys with both the public and internal staff
• An Engage Ottawa platform that allowed for questions, ideas and participation in a forum
• One-on-one telephone interviews with representatives of equity-seeking groups
• A virtual dialogue session with residents and stakeholders with a focus on waste management at multi-residential properties
What questions did we ask?
Great discussions flowed from asking some high level, key questions, such as:
1. What are the strengths of the current waste system in Ottawa and how can we improve?
2. Imagine it’s 2052 and we’ve just completed our 30-year solid waste strategy. What does success look like to you?
3. What are the key considerations for this success?
What did we hear?
A comprehensive As We Heard Report will be released in early 2021 that will provide an in-depth look at the feedback we gathered from all engagement activities. Top line comments included:
1. Participants generally wanted the City to adopt very high waste diversion rates with many calling for a “zero waste” target.
2. Many participants believed that behavioral change will be required to meet higher diversion rates, and that the City needed to focus on education to encourage people to ‘take responsibility for their waste’.
3. Others called for more regulations and better enforcing of existing rules, such as issuing more fines, refusing to collect non-compliant waste, etc.
4. Many comments related to the need to make it easier for people to divert their waste.
5. Several participants believed that the City’s focus needed to be on waste reduction rather than diversion, and that the City should enact bans on single use plastics and encourage a circular economy and green procurement.
6. With respect to multi-residential buildings, several participants noted that processes needed to be in place to make it easier for residents to divert their waste, such as replacing garbage chutes with compost chutes.
7. Some participants noted that the City should investigate new technologies to use waste as a renewable energy. In this vein, there was mixed opinions about the environmental benefits of waste incineration.
How are we incorporating feedback?
Input is being used to:
• Draft a vision, guiding principles and goals for the Waste Plan that will help us establish where we want to be in 30 years time and the outcomes needed in order to make the vision a reality.
• Inform the development of a long list of draft options for the Waste Plan. These options will be recommended policies and programs that will seek to maximize how to avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle waste and manage material that is left over.
• Help develop an evaluation tool for assessing this long list of options using a triple bottom line approach (i.e., the environmental, social and financial considerations of each option).
What are the next steps?
Once options have been developed for the Waste Plan, they will be assessed using the triple bottom line evaluation tool. The resulting short list of options will be consulted on during the next engagement series, that will start in 2021.
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New! Introducing the Stakeholder Sounding Board
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkThere are a wide range of stakeholders interest in and potentially impacted by a future Waste Plan. As well as making every effort to reach and engage all residents and stakeholders, a Stakeholder Sounding Board (SSB) was established at the beginning of 2020. The SSB consists of individuals and organizations who represent a broad range of resident and stakeholder perspectives and interests, including differing demographics and housing types. The SSB also provides a forum for mutual learning and enhanced discourse on related topics and acts as a channel to further communicate engagement opportunities to the wider community.
Who are the members?
Waste Watch Ottawa
Recycling Council of Ontario
Envirocentre
University of Ottawa
Carleton University
Algonquin College
Ontario Waste Management Association
Ottawa Community Housing (OCH)
Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association (GOHBA)
Social Planning Council of Ottawa
Federation of Citizens’ Associations of Ottawa (FCA)
Eastern Ontario Landlord Organization
Canadian Association for Retired Persons (CARP, Ottawa Chapter 26)
Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee (ESAC)
Osgoode Ward Business Association
Dunrobin Community Association
National Capital Commission (NCC)
Ottawa Coalition of BIAs
CAFES (Community Associations for Environmental Sustainability)
How has the SSB been engaged so far?
In May 2020 the SSB was engaged to gain input on a vision for the Waste Plan. A two-hour workshop took place where members broke into smaller breakout discussions in order to better facilitate the conversations. Input from this meeting was used, alongside feedback heard over the course of all engagement activities from May to September, to help develop a vision statement for the Waste Plan.
Three workshops were then held with the SSB in September 2020, the purpose of which was to:
- Help ensure we had incorporated feedback from all residents and stakeholders into the vision statement.
- Provide comments on guiding principles and goals for the Waste Plan which were, again, written based on feedback from all residents and stakeholders during engagement series 1.
- Gain feedback to inform the development of the evaluation tool, which will be used to assess the options for the Waste Plan using a triple bottom line approach (i.e., the environmental, social and financial considerations of each option).
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Complete the survey!
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkCLOSED: This discussion has concluded.We want to hear your thoughts and ideas about waste management in the city and what you would like to see in the future! Complete the 10-15 minute survey and help us make the Waste Plan!
The survey closes on July 19th.
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Phase 1 Report
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkby Cathryne Lillian Milburn (City of Ottawa),The City has completed the first phase of its Solid Waste Master Plan, a 30-year plan that will guide how it manages solid waste. This report provides an overview of waste management in Ottawa and explains what we have been doing in phase one. It also highlights emerging trends in waste management and explains the public engagement approach for the two remaining phases in the master planning process.
Supporting documents one to five referenced at the end of the report are the ‘Technical Memorandums’ that are posted in the next newsfeed below. The link to supporting document six entitled ‘Stakeholders’ is provided in this newsfeed after the Phase 1 report.
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Technical Memorandums
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkby Cathryne Lillian Milburn (City of Ottawa),During Phase 1 of the Solid Waste Master Plan, a series of technical memorandums were developed to understand and document:
- the existing waste management system and practices at the City of Ottawa;
- the current legislative context in which the Waste Plan will be developed;
- emerging policies and trends in the waste management industry that need to be considered;
- what programs, services and policies progressive Canadian municipalities have in place; and
- current and emerging approaches and technologies to collect, process and dispose of municipal waste.
Due to their technical nature, only the French Executive Summaries are available. The City of Ottawa may translate these reports or parts thereof upon request. Please forward your requests to: wasteplan@ottawa.ca
Current State Summary Document
The first step in the master planning process was to document the current state of the City’s solid waste management system. The Current State Summary documents the existing baseline waste management system, programs and supporting policies, as well as corporate waste management practices.
Legislative Review
This technical memorandum includes a review of recent federal and provincial solid waste policies, programs and legislation, including an assessment of the potential impacts on the City’s future waste management system.
Emerging Policies and Trends
Emerging policies and trends in waste management are covered in this technical memorandum, including solid waste management policy and program trends at the municipal, provincial, federal and international levels. It also covers recent consumer, waste generation and packaging trends, as well as trends in the Industrial, Commercial and Institutional sector.
Municipal Scan
To identify innovative and progressive municipal waste management programs, services and policies in Canada that could be applied to the City’s future waste management system, a comparative scan of eight different municipalities was undertaken. The findings are documented in this technical memorandum.
Technology Review
This technical memorandum documents the results of a high-level review of different proven and emerging municipal waste management technologies and approaches that could potentially be applicable to the City’s future solid waste management system.
Timeline
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Solid Waste Master Plan roadmap approved by Council
Solid Waste Master Plan has finished this stageJuly 2019
Council approved the scope and framework for the development of the City of Ottawa’s 30-year Solid Waste Master Plan.
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Phase 1: Where We Are
Solid Waste Master Plan has finished this stageFebruary to April 2020
We’ll share information on the development of the Solid Waste Master Plan, including a series of backgrounders coming in February and March on some of the key issues.
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Phase 2: Where We Are Going
Solid Waste Master Plan is currently at this stageJanuary to February 2022
We’ll engage with the public on the current system and get input to help inform a vision and guiding principles for the plan.
Quarter 3, 2022
Staff to table recommended vision, objectives and guiding principles for the strategy for Council’s Consideration.
Quarter 4, 2022
We’ll present options and recommendations for the plan and seek further comment and feedback from the public.
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Phase 3: How We Will Get There
this is an upcoming stage for Solid Waste Master PlanQuarter 4, 2022
Staff to table draft strategy and short-term implementation plan for Council’s consideration before final round of public engagement.
Quarter 4, 2022
Public engagement on the draft Waste Plan and short-term implementation plan.
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Approval of final Solid Waste Master Plan
this is an upcoming stage for Solid Waste Master PlanCouncil will consider a final Solid Waste Master Plan that incorporates all the feedback we collected. Councillors are anticipated to vote on that plan in the second half of 2022.
Who's listening
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Email wasteplan@ottawa.ca -
Technical Memorandums
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Technical Memorandums
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Current State System Summary (4.27 MB) (pdf)
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Current State System Summary - Appendices (2.68 MB) (pdf)
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Legislative Review (2.19 MB) (pdf)
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Comparative Scan of Municipal Strategies, Practices and Initiatives (1.88 MB) (pdf)
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Review of Policies and Trends (2.22 MB) (pdf)
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Waste Management Technologies and Approaches (1.96 MB) (pdf)
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Long-Term Waste Management Needs (5.06 MB) (pdf)
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High Level Long List of Options (7.82 MB) (pdf)
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Evaluation Process (1.74 MB) (pdf)
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Phase 1 Report
Technical Memorandums - Executive summaries
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Technical Memorandums – Executive Summaries
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Current State System Summary – Executive Summary (504 KB) (pdf)
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Legislative Review – Executive Summary (373 KB) (pdf)
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Comparative Scan of Municipal Strategies, Practices and Initiatives - Executive Summary (364 KB) (pdf)
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Review of Policies and Trends - Executive Summary (380 KB) (pdf)
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Waste Management Technologies and Approaches - Executive Summary (377 KB) (pdf)
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Technical Memorandums
Documents
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Why is the Waste Plan needed and what are the key considerations? (181 KB) (pdf)
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What will be included and how will the Waste Plan be developed? (198 KB) (pdf)
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Bioplastics and their management (207 KB) (pdf)
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Current Waste Management System (317 KB) (pdf)
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Greenhouse Gas Emissions (169 KB) (pdf)
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Key Challenges for Multi-Residential Waste Management (570 KB) (pdf)
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New and emerging technologies in waste management (159 KB) (pdf)
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Plastics and their Management (184 KB) (pdf)
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The Circular Economy and Extended Producer Responsibility (176 KB) (pdf)
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The Role of the Federal, Provincial and Municipal Governments (297 KB) (pdf)
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Waste Management Trends and Challenges (238 KB) (pdf)
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Waste Processing and End Market Challenges (201 KB) (pdf)
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Glossary.pdf (163 KB) (pdf)
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Arabic (772 KB) (pdf)
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ES2 Documents
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French (674 KB) (pdf)
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Somali (656 KB) (pdf)
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Spanish (653 KB) (pdf)
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Chinese (712 KB) (pdf)
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Nepali (766 KB) (pdf)
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Farsi (788 KB) (pdf)
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Anishinaabemowin (671 KB) (pdf)
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Inuktitut (725 KB) (pdf)
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English (731 KB) (pdf)
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Survey_InformationSheet_EN.pdf (129 KB) (pdf)
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2021 03 21_SWMPEngagement_InformationSession_ENFR.pdf (640 KB) (pdf)
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2022-03-24_TakingtheLead_ENFR.pdf (535 KB) (pdf)
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2022-03-28_BeyondCurbsideCollection_ENFR.pdf (548 KB) (pdf)
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2022-04-07_Out in the public_ENFR (676 KB) (pdf)
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2022-04-11_Reducing GHG Emissions_ENFR.pdf (782 KB) (pdf)
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2022-04-13_Waste Plan Information Session_ENFR.pdf (643 KB) (pdf)
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2022 05 03_MultiResidentialProperites_Presentaton.pdf (728 KB) (pdf)
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2022-05-05_Residual Waste_ENFR.pdf (861 KB) (pdf)
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