Environmental scan and waste audits complete

Thank you to all who participated in Phase 1 public engagement during fall 2023. As input is being considered, we want to provide an update on other tasks we have completed.

Environmental scan

We looked at emerging policies, industry trends, and other factors that might affect how the City deals with waste. Here is what we found:

• Recycling responsibility is moving from local governments to companies who make and sell products and packaging.
• The Federal government is starting to regulate methane emissions from landfills.
• More residents are living in multi-family dwellings now than in the past.

We also looked at how the City currently manages waste. Here are some good things we found:

• The City has 4R Depots and community recycling depots across Winnipeg. This makes diversion easy for residents.
• Other levels of government support the idea of moving towards a circular economy.

Here are some things we could do better:

• The City collects waste from multi-family dwellings, but we need better data on what gets thrown away and recycled.
• Some areas, like Downtown, need more resources for collecting bulky and abandoned waste.

Here are some opportunities:

• New rules could reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills from the construction, renovation, and demolition sectors.
• Companies that make and sell packaging could be responsible for collecting and recycling packaging instead of the City.

Waste audits

We did two audits in summer and fall 2023. The audits included single-family dwellings, multi-family dwellings, and industrial, commercial, and institutional facilities. We found that:

• 15% of the garbage could have been recycled.
• 52% of the garbage could have been composted, if a program existed.
• 27% of the recycling should have been placed in the garbage because it was not recyclable.

Findings from the above tasks and input from Phase 1 public engagement is currently being used to develop options to better manage the City's waste.