Large households must still meet three garbage bag limit starting Oct. 17

The Region of Waterloo is taking a step toward fighting climate change by attempting to reduce the number of items that enter the landfill.

Starting Oct. 17, single-family households throughout the region will see the number of garbage bags they can put out for collection every other week drop from four to three. 

It may seem like a big change for some, but the manager of waste collection and diversion for the Region of Waterloo, Dave Johnstone, says most people are already below the limit.

“Roughly 90 per cent of households are already within the bag limit,” Johnstone said. 

“The goal for the remainder is to encourage them to recycle and use the green bins for compost.”

The decision to reduce the limit on bags wasn’t made on a whim. The region recently conducted an audit on people’s garbage to see exactly what was going into the landfill. The results were staggering. Sixty per cent of items that were found in garbage bags could have gone into recycling or a compost bin.

“Most of that 60 per cent was organic waste that could have gone in a green bin,” Johnstone said.

But how exactly does the reduction in garbage bags fight climate change? It all has to do with how the materials are broken down, Johnstone said.

“If you were to put your food waste in the garbage, it goes to the landfill, slowly breaks down and creates methane gas which impacts our environment,” he said.

“By keeping compost out of the landfill, it then gets sent to Guelph to be processed. There, it goes through a soil amendment and gets put back into the fields and on farms. It’s a cyclical process. We’re trying to extend the life of our landfill. We all need practical ways to help fight climate change, we're surrounded by it.”

But there’s one more issue facing many residents throughout the region. Many families are large or live in a multi-generational home.

Those people will have the ability to purchase tags for additional bags for $2 on the region’s website. While some may call it a money grab scheme by the region, Johnstone says that’s simply not the case.

“There’s no financial change or incentive,” he said. “It’s strictly to encourage people to recycle and compost. It’s truly an environmental based decision to preserve our landfill. Plus, there is no limit to blue or green boxes and they are picked up weekly.”

While the region won’t be ruling with an iron fist initially, anything over the given limit has the potential to be left at the curb on collection day.

“The collectors have the ability to leave bags, and they will start doing that,” Johnstone said. 

“Initially it’s about education. We will give people some time to adjust.”

For those who need help figuring out what can and can’t be recycled, there are tools available.

The Waste Whiz app is free and available through Google Play or the App Store, and at regionofwaterloo.ca.