Waste Management Subcommittee Meeting Report

The Waste Management Subcommittee reviewed the city's response to July's wildfire-smoke disruption, waste-collection access at new developments, yard-waste and tire-management programs, and short-term actions under Hamilton's 2026-2050 solid waste management master plan. The committee received items 7.1 to 7.8 for information and approved extending the tax stabilization reserve fund to March 31, 2027.

Topics Discussed

AIR-QUALITY RESPONSE: Free disposal and temporary garbage-limit increase followed July cancellations

The city suspended collection around 11 a.m. on July 16 after air-quality readings reached 10 or higher. Staff said about 60% of routes had been completed, leaving about 40% of residents without collection. Collection was cancelled entirely the next day for city crews, while contractor GFL continued some service at its discretion.

Director of Waste Management Angela Story said staff responded by temporarily raising the garbage set-out limit: "when you put your waste out next week instead of the regular one bag limit we'll offer a three garbage container limit on that next week's collection day."

The city also opened community recycling centre transfer stations for free disposal. Staff recorded 409 no-charge transactions on Friday and 794 on Saturday, for a total of 1,203.

Staff said emergency communication should better coordinate councillors' social-media pages, public-service announcements, city webpages and the waste app. They added that most city communication tools are designed for citywide notices rather than targeting only affected neighbourhoods.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS: 38 of 58 reviewed projects did not meet collection-design requirements

Staff reviewed 58 developments and found that 38 did not meet one or more municipal waste collection design requirements. Those 38 developments represent 5,840 units, and 30 were multi-residential buildings.

Ryan Kent, manager of Waste Policy and Planning, said: "of those 58 developments 20 of them or 34% of the developments were designed to support municipal waste collection while the remaining 38 or 66% did not meet the waste design requirements in one or more ways."

Staff said common issues included inadequate loading space, layouts that do not allow collection vehicles to enter and exit in forward motion, and waste systems that do not meet city requirements. Kent said the city has difficulty forcing changes because "it does not really allow city staff to really hold developers to have to meet anything to do with waste."

Staff also reported that a recent change allowing buildings with six to 30 units to use curbside garbage carts instead of loading-dock space makes eight previously ineligible buildings eligible for municipal collection. A further report on 2025 developments is expected, with 2026 data to follow.

YARD WASTE AND SOLID-WASTE PLANNING: Grass clippings review is part of master-plan work

A composition study found that 89% of collected yard waste was acceptable material. Grass clippings made up 35% of acceptable material, while contamination accounted for 11%, mainly soil.

Ryan Kent said "our very new 2026 to 2050 solid waste management master plan includes a short-term action item which was to review whether grass clippings should remain in the leaf and yard waste program."

Staff said the city collects about 30,000 tonnes of yard waste annually, including about 20,000 tonnes at the curb. They are also promoting "grass cycling," or leaving clippings on lawns.

Other master-plan actions under review include automated cart-based collection for garbage and green bins, possible biweekly garbage collection, renewable energy from organics, construction-and-demolition waste drop-off, reuse programs, repair cafes and sharing libraries. On future collection changes, staff said: "The first is consider automated cart-based collection for our garbage and green bin streams and the second is to consider bi-weekly garbage collection."

Staff also discussed advanced sorting technology that could recover materials from garbage at a centralized facility. One staff presentation described it as a system where "the garbage goes to a facility and that facility sorts it as opposed to having the material sorted at the curb."

TIRES: Provincial rule changes have reduced collection targets

Staff said provincial amendments that took effect Jan. 1, 2025 removed tire-collection targets for producers and lowered the management target from 85% to 65% of tires supplied the previous year.

Ryan Kent said: "These amendments to the regulation have resulted in a reduction in the effectiveness of the provincial tire recycling program."

Hamilton's three community recycling centres collected just over 51 tonnes of tires in August 2026. On Sept. 4, staff reported 12.4 tonnes stored in four bins at Canora, 10.2 tonnes in two bins at the Mountain site, and a wall-mounted bin at Dundas that was 90% full.

Kent warned: "If the number of tires at our sites does cause a storage concern, the city will likely need to recommend reducing or stopping the drop off of tires until the backlog is managed." Staff said the province was expected to propose further amendments in September, and a request for provincial review may go to Public Works Committee.

PROGRAM UPDATES: Blue-box transition, green-bin education and open house

Since Jan. 1, 2026, Hamilton has managed recycling collection for non-eligible sources outside the provincial blue-box system, including about 740 Business Improvement Area properties, 1,882 properties outside BIAs and 193 city facilities. Staff said blue-box-related calls dropped from more than 800 in January to about 200 to 250 per month from May through July.

Staff said about 950,000 tonnes of food and yard waste have been diverted through the green-bin and yard-waste programs over time, though they do not have a pre-2018 breakdown separating food waste from yard waste.

They also outlined a student waste campaign that sent waste guides and trash tags to 2,396 student addresses and welcome postcards to about 5,000 addresses near McMaster. Another safety campaign will warn residents not to place loose material in garbage cans or green bins. Staff said loose material can blow back from collection vehicles into workers' eyes and faces.

The division's open house is scheduled for Sept. 26 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the central composting facility. Kent said staff are "very excited to open up the central composting facility to welcome in residents."

Motions

Passed: - Extension of the Tax Stabilization Reserve Fund to March 31, 2027, with amounts to be considered through the 2027 operating budget - Receipt of Solid Waste Master Plan Action Items 7.1 to 7.8 for information

No final vote identified in the notes: - Possible request for provincial review of the tire-collection program - Proposal related to extending the current waste collection contract beyond its scheduled April 2029 expiry

Attendees

Named participants in the meeting materials included:

• Angela Story, Director of Waste Management
• Joel McCormack, Manager
• Ryan Kent, Manager of Waste Policy and Planning

The councillor list provided for the committee was:

• Tom Jackson
• Andrea Horwath
• Mark Tadeson
• Esther Pauls
• Rob Cooper
• Alex Wilson
• Jeff Beattie
• Mike Spadafora
• Cameron Kroetsch
• Ted McMeekin
• Brad Clark
• Craig Cassar
• Tammy Hwang
• Maureen Wilson
• Matt Francis
• Nrinder Nann