Council has put a lid on the size and number of garbage and organics carts for multi-residential properties when the city switches to a new automated cart pick-up system in September 2025.
Council approved the details at Wednesday night's meeting.
“The new technology to pick up garbage and green-bin waste that will be implemented next year means that we are all getting different bins,” said Coun. Clare Riepma. “The waste management guidelines that were approved by council are based on a lot of work done by city staff to achieve a system that is practical and works with the new system.”
The Ward 1 councillor said these guidelines are similar to those used in other municipalities with the same technology.
One set of carts comprises a 240-litre or 120-litre garbage cart and a 120-litre organics cart, and, as a base level of service, all residential properties would be provided one set of carts.
But properties with two or three residential units would have the option to order one additional set of carts, at no cost to the property owner. Properties with four or five residential units would have the option to order as many as two additional sets of carts, again at no cost to the property owner.
Council gave final approval last night to a motion to that effect.
At the Sept. 25 general committee meeting, Deputy Mayor Robert Thomson asked staff for additional information on options for waste cart provisions for residential properties with two to five units, as the city transitions to automated waste cart collection in 2025.
Staff came back with information on full cost recovery, an annual fee to the property owner estimated between $300 and $400 for a set of carts, which would include contracted collection costs, processing of organics, garbage disposal and a small administration charge.
But at the Oct. 2 city council meeting, Thomson did not amend the motion and it was approved without discussion.
“Change is always difficult and I am sure that there will be situations that will need to be resolved next September,” Riepma said. “Fortunately, we have some lead time to have further consultations.”
Multi-residential (six or more units) waste collection service is provided to the property if its owner/manager requests to be part of the city’s waste collection service and can meet the service’s requirements — such as safe site access, the required containers can be accommodated, etc.
The program includes curbside collection of garbage, organics and yard waste for multi-residential townhouse complexes with access to public roads.
Approximately 800 multi-residential units have this form of waste collection in Barrie.
Multi-residential automated cart servicing, starting next September, will be considered for properties or buildings with six to 20 units, with the number of garbage and organics carts supplied based on the approved multi-residential waste volumes.
Collection may be weekly or bi-weekly with 360-litre carts provided in some cases for garbage, if storage or collection space is an issue. It’s estimated this would be between eight and 16 waste carts.
Properties not deemed eligible for the city’s collection service, due to private roads or laneways and/or space constraints for waste enclosures, will be required to continue providing private waste collection service.
“I am sure that there will be some multiple dwellings and commercial places that will need to be addressed because of specific circumstances,” Riepma said. “This will be particularly true in the downtown area.”
The city currently provides curbside collection of recycling, garbage and yard waste to industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) within the Downtown BIA (business improvement area) and registered units outside of the BIA.
Council took city staff’s recommendation Wednesday that, starting next September, the ICI curbside garbage limit be aligned with the residential limit of two bags of garbage every other week, be applied on a per-property basis, as opposed to a per-unit basis, and require mandatory diversion of recycling and organics.
Registration for service would be required both outside and within the BIA. These registered ICI properties would be provided one set of automated carts – 240-litre garbage, 120-litre organics, 360-litre recycling, to be placed at a public road/laneway for collection. A smaller garbage cart of 120-litre would be provided as an option.
Barrie’s waste collections contract with Waste Connections expired April 30, 2024, and a new contract with the Emterra Group began the next day, May 1. It's an eight-year deal with options for two one-year extensions. The new collection contract is using manual collection until Sept. 7, 2025.
The next day, Barrie will make the transition to automated collection, with the use of carts or bins for all materials except yard waste. The carts will be provided to residents.
Yard waste goes to the curb on Monday of the collection week that lasts until Friday, with pick-up every other week, April to November.
Barrie’s recycling program also changed on May 1, 2024, when residential recycling — blue and grey boxes — was no longer collected by the city. A not-for-profit organization called Circular Materials is financially responsible for collecting and managing residential recycling in Barrie. There are no anticipated changes to the materials residents can recycle.
Changes to collection will affect about 58,000 single- and multi-family residences and approximately 4,000 commercial units in Barrie which are eligible for waste services.
Projected operating costs for 2026, collection and processing, the first full year of the automated cart service, are $530,000 for ICI, $1.69 million for residential properties of two to five units and $1.34 million for multi-residential properties.
