The City of Windsor could be moving to a bi-weekly garbage collection schedule to allow for the addition of organic and food waste collection.
An administration report going to the Sept. 5 meeting of council asks for the approval of bi-weekly garbage collection and weekly organic waste collection.
Ward 9 city councillor Kieran McKenzie, a board member of the Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority, says the waste collected is going to be further separated into organic waste and separated from the main garbage stream.
"Some of the best practices that we've seen in communities in order to promote a strong level of adoption is to have a more frequent organics collection schedule," he says.
If approved, the change would take effect when the next waste collection contract begins in 2025.
The current collection contract expires March 31, 2025 and a new waste collection Request For Proposals must be issued in the fall of 2023 in order to allow the successful bidder sufficient time to obtain the necessary equipment.
The provincial government has legislated that all municipalities must begin a Source Separated Organics (SSO) program by 2025.
McKenzie says the primary goal is to divert waste out of the regional landfill and extend the life of the landfill beyond 2040.
"So that we get every possible day and every possible inch of space in that area that we need to use to essentially pile-up all the garbage that we generate and it is a significant amount in our region," he says.
According to the Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority, the seven County of Essex municipalities and the City of Windsor delivered 108,059 tonnes of residential waste to the Regional Landfill in 2022.
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McKenzie says this is looking at the future.
"Municipalities like Windsor, LaSalle, Tecumseh, you name it, all the municipalities in our region, we have an obligation to respond," he says. "It's not just the municipalities, it's the communities as a whole, every individual and every individual household has a role to play in fighting and addressing climate change. I know we can do this."
The Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority recently engaged EXP Consulting to review best options for the various waste collection services in the region, which recommended a bi-weekly garbage collection schedule to help encourage the separation of organic waste for collection.
EXP also recommends that clear bags for garbage be adopted to motivate residents to only throw garbage in these bags and not food and organic waste or recyclables.
The City of Windsor is taking part in a regional food and organics waste program that will be managed by the Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority, much like the current recycling program.
EWSWA has has entered into an agreement with Seacliff Energy in Leamington to process all food and organic waste from the region but the City of Windsor remains responsible for the management of collection services.
City council will meet at Windsor City Hall at 4 p.m. on Sept. 5.