Slight increase in households exceeding three-item garbage limit as full enforcement begins

A worker picks up garbage in Ottawa. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)

New statistics from the City of Ottawa show there was an increase in households exceeding the new three-item garbage limit as full enforcement of the new rules began earlier this month.

As of Dec. 3, households that exceed the three-item limit without placing the garbage in a yellow City of Ottawa bag had all excess garbage left behind by collection staff.

Data from the City of Ottawa shows 1.04 per cent of households out of 157,866 curbside properties had items tagged and left behind between Dec. 2 and Dec. 6. That number decreased to 0.61 per cent during the second week of implementation between Dec. 9 and Dec. 13.

That marks an increase from the last week of November, when 0.3 per cent of households received a tagged garbage item. Statistics provided weekly by the city since the new rules started have shown consistent decreases in households exceeding the limit. Just under two per cent of homes had items over the limit during the first week of implementation between Sept. 30 and Oct. 4.

The City of Ottawa has been phasing in enforcement of the three-item limit through the fall. In November, households that exceeded the limit without placing it in a yellow bag had one item left behind by collection staff. As of December, any garbage over the three-item limit that is not in a yellow bag will be left at the curb.

The city says it will continue to use custom courtesy tags on the garbage items left behind to educate and inform residents.

The three-item limit was implemented to clamp down on illegal dumping and to extend the life of the Trail Road landfill. The city says it received approximately 1,264 reports for illegal dumping and issued one fine since the start of the new rules.

Statistics show most illegal dumping reports were received throughout October during the first phase of implementation and do not present a large increase from before the new rules started. The city has been targeting wards and locations where illegal dumping is reported most with increased education campaigns.

The three-item garbage limit program began on Sept. 30. As of that date, households are limited to three items of garbage every two weeks.

A garbage item could be a garbage bag, a 140-litre container or a bulky item. The city says households can put several smaller bags in containers up to 140 litres as long as the weight is less than 33 pounds per bin. An item could also be furniture or a bulky item that can’t be reused or donated.

If you have waste over the three-item garbage limit, you must use a City of Ottawa yellow bag. The city says residential yellow bags can be purchased from participating retailers for $17.60 for a package of four.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle