Regional councillor wants more upstream strategy for landfill

Mayor of Waterloo and Regional Councillor Dorothy McCabe is looking to increase the amount of waste being diverted from the landfill and give the community the ability to divert more textiles and organics.

During a November 8 regional council meeting, the McCabe tabled a motion to upstream the waste diversion strategy for Waterloo Region.

McCabe said it aligns with the provincial organics framework that the province is planning to install.

“I realize we’re going through challenging budget times and that, but I did think this was important to put this on the table for our consideration because really this is a request that is upstream in nature and future focused with the goal of reducing the amount of waste,” said McCabe.

McCabe said ultimately the request is for a regional staff report so that they can come back with the options at a later date.

Regional Chair Karen Redman was strongly against the motion presented to council.

“I commend my colleagues for wanting to do a good thing for the environment, but I would tell you we’re already transitioning our blue box, I believe in 2024 or 2025 is when were scheduled to do that,” said Redman.

Redman said there is a dwindling market for certain types of recycled materials.