Category Archives: Garbage and recycling

Holiday hours for the City of Guelph facilities and programs. Continue reading Holiday hours for City facilities and services

Dr. Dianne Saxe, former Environmental Commissioner for Ontario, to speak at the launch of Guelph’s Solid Waste Management Master Plan update December 9. Continue reading The future of waste management in Guelph

The leaves have shown their true colours and are now dropping in droves across lawns and sidewalks—but how do you get rid of them? Continue reading Five free ways to get rid of your leaves this fall

Simple actions can help reduce waste Key facts Take advantage of free City programs to reduce waste and promote reuse including Goods Exchange weekends, ReCycle bike reuse, and Paint+ Reuse for free paints, cleaning and car care products, and other household repair supplies. Whether dropping off or picking up, using these programs helps reuse items that could otherwise end up in a landfill. Media release Guelph, Ont., October 17, 2019—The City is celebrating Waste Reduction Week in Canada October 21–27. There are many ways Guelphites can reduce their waste, and Waste Reduction Week has outlined seven daily themes to help people get started. The Guelph Tool Library and the University of Guelph are also hosting free, local activities focused on reducing waste, including a repair… Continue reading Waste Reduction Week starts October 21

Construction Notice: Paving at the City’s public waste drop-off site to begin early October Continue reading Construction Notice: Paving at the City’s public waste drop-off site to begin early October

The City is collecting single-use alkaline batteries at the curb from September 30 – October 11 on blue cart collection day. Continue reading Curbside battery collection starts September 30

Today the City of Guelph welcomes Jennifer Rose as the general manager of Environmental Services. Rose comes to the City with 15 years’ experience in the municipal sector, most recently as director of Environmental Services for the City of Vaughan. Continue reading Things looking rosy with City of Guelph’s new GM of Environmental Services

Shortly after 2:40 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, Guelph Fire responded to a fire in the transfer station that houses collected garbage before being transported to the landfill. Continue reading Operations resume at City’s Waste Resource Innovation Centre after Saturday’s fire

Guelph’s updated waste bylaw includes changes for multi-residential collection, grass clippings and medical waste collection Continue reading Guelph City Council approves updated Waste Management Bylaw

We plan to be collecting waste from up to 30 multi-residential properties by the end of 2019. Continue reading Multi-residential waste collection February 2019 update

We are on schedule to begin rolling out multi-residential waste collection in mid-2019. The first front-end collection truck has been purchased and we are on track to purchase the second truck in early 2019. We are working closely with multi-residential property owners and managers to develop waste management plans to transition smoothly to City waste collection services

Have dead batteries? Put them out to the curb this October for collection! Continue reading 2019 curbside battery collection program

Final recommendations support continuous improvement Guelph, Ont., May 17, 2018 – The final report for the Solid Waste Resources business service review will be presented to Council on Monday, May 28 at 6:30 p.m. The report details eleven recommendations for Guelph’s Solid Waste Resources division along with supporting information and data. The recommendations fall into four categories of continuous improvement: Operational and service enhancements including: Expansion of leaf and yard waste collection Expansion of multi-residential waste collection Extending the lifecycle of waste collection trucks Optimizing hours of operation at the Public Drop-off Implementing the Simcoe transition strategy at the Material Recovery Facility Creating a financial reserve for Solid Waste Resources Staff training and engagement including: Increasing financial analysis resources and skills within the division Increasing… Continue reading City shares Solid Waste Resources business service review final report

Five of six Guelph waste services meet or exceed financial benchmarks Guelph, Ont., September 7, 2017– A special Council meeting will be held on Monday, September 18 at 7 p.m. at which staff will present initial findings of the Solid Waste Resources (SWR) business service review in an interim report. Council won’t be asked to make any decisions at the meeting; there are no staff recommendations in the report, merely an overview of findings to date. The report details that, while service review work is ongoing, initial findings show that five of six City of Guelph waste services are in line and cost competitive with comparator municipalities. The SWR business service review examines waste services in six service groups: Curbside waste collection including leaf and… Continue reading City shares early findings from Solid Waste Resources business service review

Guelph, Ont., August 24, 2016– The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) awarded the City of Guelph with the 2016 Gold Excellence Award in the Collection Systems category at the Association’s annual conference held in Indianapolis, Indiana yesterday. “The City of Guelph is honoured to receive the Gold Excellence Award for our curbside collection system,” says Heather Connell, manager of Integrated Services, Solid Waste Resources. “Our collection and processing of residential curbside waste—successfully driven by our residents’ diligent three-steam sorting—has enabled Guelph to achieve the highest waste diversion rate in Ontario.” Vivian De Giovanni, supervisor of Program Development with Solid Waste Resources, received the award on behalf of the City for the Automatic Cart-Based Collection System entry. Guelph converted from manual bag-based curbside collection… Continue reading Guelph receives award of excellence for waste collection system

Update – 4:30 p.m. The Guelph Fire Department has extinguished the fire and is assessing the damage. A structural assessment will be conducted tomorrow. Public access to yard waste disposal, the household hazardous waste depot, the public drop off and transfer station reopens tomorrow. Curbside waste collection continues without disruption.   Guelph, Ont., July 5, 2016 – Around 10:30 this morning a fire broke out at the City’s Material Recovery Facility, located at 110 Dunlop Drive. Staff was safely evacuated and no injuries are reported. Public access to the Waste Resource Innovation Centre including the public drop-off, is temporarily closed. Telephone service is also unavailable at this time. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire. The extent of the damage is not yet… Continue reading Update: Fire at Guelph’s Material Recovery Facility closes 110 Dunlop Drive

A look at some of the budget details On December 10, 2015, City Council approved a $216 million operating budget and a $61 million capital budget for 2016. This represents a 2.99 per cent tax increase over 2015. In approving the budget, Council approved $3.6 million in reductions to the base budget which included adjustments to purchased goods and services, revenue including a 15 per cent increase to vendor fees at the Guelph Farmers’ Market, and service level changes for Guelph Transit (described below). Within the capital budget, Council approved 124 projects including but not limited to Transit fare box replacement, vehicle and equipment lifecycle replacements, bridge replacements/upgrades (including Niska Bridge), South End Community Park continued implementation, and downtown parkade construction. The following identifies the… Continue reading 2016 budget highlights

The City of Guelph has posted this media release on behalf of Waste Diversion Ontario. Toronto, ON, January 22, 2014 – Waste Diversion Ontario announced today that the City of Guelph achieved the best residential waste diversion rate in 2012. The residential waste diversion rate is the percentage of Blue Box and other residential garbage reported to WDO that is kept out of landfill. Reports with amounts of these materials are submitted by over 400 municipalities across Ontario under WDO’s annual Municipal Datacall. Guelph took the top spot with an overall residential waste diversion rate of 67.72 per cent, well above the 2012 provincial average of 47.19 per cent. Guelph also came in first overall in 2012 for diverting the highest percentage of residential organic waste… Continue reading Guelph wins WDO’s first Ron Lance Memorial Award for highest residential waste diversion rate

Guelph, On, November 6 – Three of the City’s recently won industry waste awards were presented to City Council on Monday evening by Solid Waste Resources employees. The two most recent were awarded by the Municipal Waste Association (MWA) for the City’s waste promotion and education efforts. The City received the 2013 Gold Promotion and Education Award for Calendar (distributed to over 30,000 households) for the City’s 2013 edition of the Conservation Calendar. Five other municipalities’ waste calendars were also submitted. Judges highlighted several of the Conservation Calendar’s features including the use of resident submitted photographs, Forrest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Rainforest Alliance Certified paper, and carbon-neutral printing. They also lauded the inclusion of other sustainable City initiatives such as cycling, sustainable landscaping and seasonal… Continue reading City awarded gold and silver from the Municipal Waste Association

Guelph, On, October 28, 2013 – The City was recognized last Thursday evening by The Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) for its waste diversion achievements and communications efforts in 2012. The RCO’s annual Ontario Waste Minimization Awards recognizes exceptional results in waste reduction and recycling among municipalities and regional governments. Out of 11 submissions, the City received the highest score and was awarded gold in the combined category of diversion achievement and communication and promotion in recognition of its excellence and commitment to a sustainable environment. “This award shines a spotlight on Guelph’s dedication to sustainable waste diversion,” said Mayor Farbridge. “Guelphites’ commitment to three-stream sorting and the new carts are at the heart of our efforts to give waste a new life by keeping… Continue reading Recycling Council of Ontario recognizes City’s waste diversion achievements

The City Guelph was honoured for excellence in communications last night at the Canadian Public Relations Society Pinnacle Awards in Hamilton. Continue reading City of Guelph honoured for excellent communications