Waste collection changes coming to downtowns in Waterloo Region

Local business owners in the downtowns and uptown of Waterloo Region are bracing for waste collection changes coming in two years.

Changes to waste collection, including for the first time, green bin collection, were approved by the Sustainability, Infrastructure and Development Committee Wednesday night.

The plan will see an automated cart-based collection brought in, which will potentially help with reducing litter, improving aesthetics in the downtowns, reducing injuries for workers and better tackling pest control.

This comes on the heels of a viral video circulating on social media channels that shows rats scurrying around Uptown Waterloo.

The region notes that the Uptown Waterloo area, as well as downtown Kitchener and Cambridge, have garbage collection six days a week, but not green bin collection.

The numbers show about 30 per cent of waste from the downtown businesses is food waste, and this would help divert that waste from the landfill. This new plan could see collection change to twice a week in the tri-cities, but with much larger bins (able to hold five to six bags) and include green bins (able to hold one bag).

In the township designated downtowns — New Hamburg, Ayr, Elmira and St. Jacobs — and Belmont village collection for businesses, there would be reduced collections to once a week.

The bins would be part of an automated cart system, similar to what has already been approved for your neighbourhood waste collection in March 2026.

The hope is to have a new plan in place for the downtowns and uptowns with that timeline too.

The report estimates converting to automated cart collection would be costly. Collection costs and waste processing costs are each expected to increase to around $1.2 million per year.

There would also be a one-time cost of purchasing the bins, estimated at approximately $750,000.

The report adds converting to the automated carts will be a “significant change” with “extensive education” and outreach still needed.

The executive directors of both the Downtown Kitchener BIA and Uptown Waterloo BIA did have a chance to speak to councillors earlier this month, saying they support the region’s plan to bring in the automated bins, but would like to see any future collection happen more than just two days a week.

An update on the execution of the new plan is expected to come back to council in spring of 2025.