Pembroke residents happy with four bag garbage limit

With all the trash talk taking place in Ottawa around the future of the city's garbage collection, CTV News Ottawa decided to compare neighbouring municipalities.

The city of Ottawa scrapped the proposed bag tag idea and instead voted to implement a three bin limit in 2024.

In Pembroke, garbage day is every two weeks, with a four bag limit per household. Any extra garbage is simply left at the curb by collectors with no penalty.

"So far so good," said Pembroke resident Mathew Dickson, who recently moved to town from Ottawa.

"I prefer this system better than Ottawa."

When moving, garbage can pile up in a hurry. Dickson says over the last few weeks he has put excess garbage at the curb and had it collected despite the limit.

He says he's glad Pembroke has not considered a system that charges for extra trash.

"I am against that idea. I understand they have to keep some room in the landfill but they need to find another strategy cause it's just going to punish too many innocent people."

Pembroke's garbage is taken to the Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre landfill in Laurentian Valley, which is shared with Petawawa, North Algona Wilberforce, and the municipality it resides in.

Pembroke city councillor Andrew Plummer says the landfill is expected to be full by mid-2036.

"Right now it's status quo, it's filling as projected," says Plummer, who chairs Pembroke's operations committee.

"So with it still being 10-plus years away, we're not currently in search for a new landfill."

The city's third-party garbage collection contract is set to expire in 2025.

Plummer says neither bag tags nor incineration has been considered at this point.

"When we look at new contracts and the future of waste in the Ottawa Valley, I think incineration is a topic to be discussed, but currently there's nothing being discussed at a municipal level."