Sound check. 1 2 3 the waste management subcommittee meeting of September 14th. We are currently waiting for quorum and we will let you know uh we will go live once we have quorum. Thank you. Go ahead, councelor. We're live. >> Good morning. As we have for present for today's meeting, I'd like to call this meeting of the waste management subcommittee to order. A reminder that all electronic devices are to be switched to a nonaudible function during committee meetings. Approve of the agenda. May I have a mover and seconder to approve the agenda as presented and I can't see who's here. Heather and Kevin. Thank you. Oh, my chair is meeting stuff just uh disappeared. Okay, that passes or or sorry, >> you have to vote on it first. >> All those in favor of approving the agenda as presented. Okay, that passes. We're going to declarations of interest. Are there any declarations of interest? Not seeing any. We have the adoption of the minutes from the previous meeting, June 2nd, 2026. May I please have a mover and second to adopt the previous minutes. Kevin, is that Linda? >> That's Lori. >> Oh, sorry, Lori. Thank you. Um, all those in favor, hands up. Thank you. That vote carries. Items for information. We're going to hear all the items for information, items 7.1 and 7.6, and then receive them together at the end. 7.1, Waste Management Response to Poor Air Quality. I'd like to call upon Angela Story, director of waste management, to begin the presentation. Good morning. Thank you. Uh just waiting for the screen to accept the presentation and then I'll get started. Um thank you for chairing this morning, councelor Tavson. >> You're welcome. >> Uh so what you're seeing here is uh all many will recall the smoke uh air poor air quality warnings that we were getting toward in the middle of July. So we wanted to provide an update today on that situation. Uh so it first happened on Thursday July the 16th. Uh the province and the public health team here at the city uh released an advisory for poor air quality. Um the rating was 10 plus which is the highest it can be from a negative perspective. It was announced for the GTA and it included Hamilton waste collection staff on that day. It was a Thursday. Both the city and GFL, our contractor, were asked to return to the yards around 11:00 a.m. Around 60% of the daily routes were completed by this time prior to us suspending collection. The remaining 40% of residents were asked to bring uncollected waste in and set it out on their the following week on their regular collection day. The wards that were impacted were all of them except for 210 and 14. So again widespread from a across the city perspective but 40% um of the work that was incomplete. So a number of a number of locations had already had their waste collected by that time. Then on Friday there was a continued poor air quality due to the wildfire smoke. The team was more prepared to make service level adjustments on that day given it was the second consecutive day. So, we convened in the morning and waste collection service by city staff were cancelled, but waste collection service by the city's contractor continued at their discretion. I'll note that our contractor GFL holds many collection contracts across the city and none of their other contracts had been suspended that day, which is uh one of the reasons they decided to continue. Residents were again asked to bring uncollected waste in and set it out the following week on their collection day. there were less wards impacted on a Friday. Uh so around half of the city wards 4 5 6 9 11 12 and 13. Uh so next slide. Uh so what we did though is after the second day and not being certain what the next week might bring us uh we said when you put your waste out next week instead of the regular one bag limit we'll offer a three garbage uh container limit uh on that next week's collection day. We also um offered uh residents who were impacted on either the Thursday afternoon or all day Friday in those half of the city wards. We offered to have them be able to bring their waste to one of the city's three community recycling center transfer stations. They were able to dispose of their curbside waste for free. Uh and that was offered on either Friday or Saturday of that week. The number of no charge transactions at the city transfer stations are shown here in the table. So on Friday there was a total of 409 and on Saturday a total of 794 for an overall total of,23 no charge transactions. So we were pleased to see the number of people uh that attended our sites with their waste from that week and didn't have to keep it until the next week. So just on the final slide here, we just wanted to touch on some lessons learned. So um for any issue in the city, it's difficult to communicate to specific residents as most communication channels are intended for full city communications. The counselor's offices are very important when sharing ward specific or sub area information. Uh most counselors have some social media pages and they tend to have a really good number of uh followers on their pages. So we really appreciate when counselors share our information. uh preparing we're working now to prepare contingency plans um similar to what was used during CO 19 pandemic to better determine level of service based on situation rather than discussing and deciding as it happens. So we found on the Thursday uh you know we had to all of a sudden the collectors were coming back the air quality announcements were coming out and we needed to make a decision quickly. Uh generally as you'll recall we would say bring it in today and put it out tomorrow. The concern was if we did that and the smoke continued into the next week, we would basically start to become a week behind and uh we just didn't want it to become more difficult for the residents and our collectors. Uh the other item we're looking at is streamlining our steps for communication to ensure information is shared as soon as possible in all possible ways such as social media, uh public service announcements, our web page, the waste app, etc. We want to make sure that the messages get out as soon as they can be. People leave for work early. Waste is at the curb. So, uh, we did find and we were able to achieve on the Friday because it was a second day. The information shared from corporate communications and on our social media pages went out uh went out relatively quickly that morning. And just as an overall, staff really appreciated the patience and consideration of the impacted residents during the environmental concern. We did get some complaints of course because people had warm waste sitting at the curb and didn't really want to have to bring it back in. Um so that is why we um decided to offer the drop off at the community recycling centers so it allowed them the ability to uh take it there instead of waiting to the next week. So any questions on that? >> You're muted. Councelor Tis, >> sorry. Um, is there any discussion on that? Is there are there any questions? Lori, I can't see you on the screen. Do you have any questions? >> Well, listen. Thank you, director. That was a um informative report. We're on to 7.2 collection contract extension. I'd like to call upon Joel McCormack, manager of waste collections to begin the presentation. Good morning everybody. Uh my name is Joel McCormack, manager of waste collections. Uh so I just want to provide a quick update regarding an initiative that we have been uh directed to accomplish. Uh so you may recall and just for some history here that uh staff went to a public works committee on August 31st recommending that we enter negotiations and discussions with our collection service contractor GFO with the intent of extending the current waste collection contract. Uh so a bit more history on that is our current waste collection contract is uh scheduled to expire in April of 2029. And um the idea behind it is to negotiate to allow us some additional time to investigate some some uh waste management initiatives for a new contract and from a financial perspective as well. Um, you may also notice or remember that back in March 30th here at the waste management subcommittee, we um there was a motion passed in regards to uh the contractor, our service contractor and their other business branches that they have. I just wanted to mention that that was also brought to committee and taken care of there. Uh so just from our next step since the direction was ratified at council last week staff will be entering into negotiations and discussions with GFL our contractor to talk about extension of our current contract. Uh what we will be doing after that is bringing forward a report to uh public works committee outlining the uh results of this discussions and recommending next steps. And if there's any questions, more than happy to answer. >> Okay, I'm not seeing any as of right now. So, thank you very much. And we'll move to 7.3, review of 2025 new developments. I'd like to call upon Ryan Kent, manager of waste policy and planning to begin the presentation. >> Thank you. Yes. Uh Ryan Kent, manager of waste policy and planning for the city of Hamilton. Uh so uh item 7.3 um you may recall that on May 25th uh city council adopted the new updates to the city of Hamilton waste requirements for design and new developments and collection. So basically that is the policy that uh staff use to review development applications to determine whether or not the design of a new development meets our requirements and can receive municipal waste collection. Um, one of the recommendations in that report, other than approving the updated policy, uh, was that staff be directed to report back to the waste management subcommittee annually on the number of development applications in each word that have not been designed to receive municipal waste collection. So, in that report, we did go through um, speak quite a bit about how quite a few waste uh, developments, sorry, are not meeting our waste design requirements as they're being um, designed. So this update is to provide the report back for 2025 in early 202 um 7. We will provide the numbers for 20206. So here are some uh key statistics. So uh waste management staff reviewed 88 res residential site plan submissions. Um so I want to just reiterate that these are site plan submissions as opposed to zoning off official plan amendments and these types of applications. So, we review a lot of different development applications, but specifically we're talking about site plan, and these are uh later on in the in the process, and details are provided in those that aren't provided earlier on in the process. Out of those 88, uh 35 um of those development applications received one round of comments and 23 received multiple. So, that's why there was there's a total of 58 out of the 88 because there were some uh duplications. So of those 58 developments uh 20 of them or 35 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. Um so that means that those 38 properties um based on their design would would not receive municipal waste collection. Uh 30 of these were multi-residential buildings. So, the majority of them um those 38 developments that do not meet our design requirements uh represent 5,840 units. The most common reasons for not meeting our requirements uh are usually uh loading space. So, the loading space are not not designed uh with enough space, adequate space so that our waste collection vehicles to can um collect from them. uh access routes which would do not allow for u the vehicles to travel in and out in a forward motion. Um and then with some of these being multi-residential buildings non-compliant waste shoot systems uh following along out of those 38 development applications uh again the recommendation was to report back on um uncserviceable developments by ward. So yeah, you can see that on the table here on this slide. Um, ws 13, 14, 15 had none, but you can see that it it ranged from one to five in the remaining wards with the most being awards 1 2 4 and 10. So one good thing is that uh with the design requirements that were updated earlier this year um they were updated in part for our new service which would be multi-residential uh um garbage carts. So in there uh buildings between 6 and 30 units or inclusive um 6 and 30 units um will be provided with um or could be designed to receive waste collection through garbage carts at the curb. Um that means they don't have to do have a loading space. Vehicles don't have to exit and enter the site in a forward motion. So looking back at that um there were eight of the requirement eight of the buildings that um did not meet our design requirements would now be eligible for municipal waste collection with these. So staff will flag these locations and when the program is rolled out in those areas they will be included. In addition uh municipal staff uh do get requests for start of collection. So when a new building is ready to receive waste collection, um the property manager or someone at that site contacts the city and says, "We want to start collection." There were 44 of those requests uh in 2025. Um some were for existing, but the majority were for newly built. Only nine of those uh of the 24 newly built developments were constructed to support municipal waste collection. So moving forward, staff will continue to work with developers to find workable solutions for sites that are challenging for developers to meet waste design requirements. We we do on a regular basis whenever a developer says, "We want to meet with you to go over this." Um staff are always available for that, but we will continue to do that. uh development applications will be reviewed using the 2026 waste design requirements that include multi-residentidential garbage carts uh as a solution to servicing small infill developments. So we're hoping that that you know reduces the number of sites that will not receive municipal waste collection in the future. Um, I would say that, you know, when we look at the design requirements and whether or not we think they're at an appropriate level or if they're too strict or um not strict enough, I I would say that we've got a a good level right now. I'd say the number one one issue that we're facing here is that um as told to us by our planning group when we review development applications trying to get developers to meet our design requirements is challenging and it's challenging because um there is no in the planning acts so provincial uh regulation legislation it does not really allow uh city staff to really hold developers to have to meet anything to do with waste. And so that's a challenge for us and that's the number one reason why um it is difficult for staff to push back and require these developers to meet our design requirements. Um so that is that's probably the biggest challenge here. I will stop sharing now um and take any questions. >> Okay, let's go to Heather. Thank you. Um that that challenge of not being able to require that they meet anything to do with waste is that at the provincial level that that um that that comes through >> through the chair. Yes, that's correct. So, uh the planning act is a provincial piece of legislation and the planning act does not allow staff to it. It outlines what municipal staff can require in a site plan application and what we don't. And waste is not one of those um to the level that we require in our design requirements. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Are there any other questions from the other members? Okay. I just have a question for um Director Story >> and Ryan. Um, I'm I'm understanding that part of the problem is that our trucks aren't able to maneuver in these um spaces due to a lack of turnaround or lack of uh runway. Is there any way that are we looking at purchasing at through procurement or anything a smaller uh vehicle that would be able to um service these areas? Has that been considered? I'll pass that question along to uh Joel. >> Hello again. Uh Joel McCormack, manager Weights Collections. Um so it's it can be a bit of a difficult question. Um we don't necessarily have the intention to go and purchase a variety of different kind of packers in order to service uh different um neighborhoods or or or developments. Um, what we do have is we have a variety of different types of waste collection vehicles right now, whether they're rear loading or side loading, but we also have some miniackers that take care of smaller um locations such mainly alleyways because we have a variety of um locations where we pick up alley waste, but being able to purchase vehicles specifically for smaller locations and then trying to organize a collection schedule that's efficient is quite difficult. >> Okay, I can appreciate that. But what about our miniackers? Has that been consider considered to to send miniackers down there or is it just because of the scheduling issue? >> Well, in in that case, the scheduling would be difficult as well. We are resourced and staffed for a level with our miniackers to service the locations that we have. Um, and they're specific for that alleyway collection is is what we're we do. So, we're we're built around that uh collection model. >> Okay, no problems. I I won't I won't pursue this further. I'll I'll take it offline with the director at some point just to have a little discussion. Thank you. Um, I think we're now on to 7.4 4 reef and yard waste composition study results and that's for Ryan. >> Thank you. Just waiting. Okay, it is up now. Thank you. Uh yeah, Ryan Ken waste policy and planning again. So uh the purpose and objective for the leaf and yard waste composition study. So um our very new 2026 to 2050 solid waste management master plan includes a short-term action item uh which was to review whether grass clipping should remain in the leaf and yard waste program. So to to review that that program um and one of the reasons why we want to review this particular piece is as Joel was speaking to earlier about the waste collection contract. We would like this data in case we need to change anything for that uh the next waste collection contract. Step one of that review was to complete a waste composition study on yard waste to determine the amount of grass clippings in the leaf and yard waist stream. Uh in addition to that main goal of of determining the percentage of of uh grass clippings in the leaf and yard waste, we also wanted to assess the total composition. So we want to see if there was contamination. What was the contamination? Um were there any trends correlations between uh months wetto characteristics and um provide data driven insights to um support future decision- making. Um this is just the the details on how the audits were set up. Um there was one in May, there was one in June. Same number of properties um the same number of properties per ward. Um and we audited 100% of the set out material. So very often uh with our waste composition studies there's a lot of waste and we subsample it. So um we may take 1,000 kg and subsample it. So we only uh actually audit 500 kg of them. That wasn't the case here. We audited 100%. Um the properties um each date um or period would have changed slightly in case someone didn't have anything any yard set out we would move to the next property. So those changed slightly. So the total amount of the material collected uh was just over 7,300 kg. 89% of that material was acceptable leaf and yard waste. Um including grass clippings, branches, brushes, brush, leaf, and uh paper bags. Um 35% of the acceptable leaf and yard waste was grass clippings weighing a total of uh just over 2,300 kg. 11% um of the unacceptable yard waste was broken down with 9% being soil, 1% being rock and stone and 1% combined of of different materials. So uh recycling, organics, hazardous waste and garbage. Here you can see the composition of the May um the May composition study. So um the grass clippings again in this pie chart you can see is the the largest piece of the pie or sorry the second largest piece of that pie. Um so contamination was relatively low which is which is good to see. I would just make a statement here when we talk about soil um you know a lot of that is people are doing yard work and it's attached to the roots and so it ends up in the uh the leaf and yard waste bag. So, um, we might need to ask our residents to maybe shake those out a little bit more before they put them into the, um, yard waste for collection. Uh, here's the June composition and you can see again, um, largest piece of the pie is acceptable and second largest is the grass clippings. Uh, this is just showing the competition month uh, the two different periods in a little bit of a different way. So you can see the the number of kilograms of the different materials. So what are our key insights? So uh for reference the city collects and processes approximately 30,000 tons of yard waste each year. Um now this composition that is through all of our means of collection which includes when people drop off material at our uh community recycling centers. um 20,000 tons of that is collected curbside, which is really what this audit focused on is what's collected curbside. 35% of acceptable leaf and yard waste was grass clippings. So, if we were going to apply that same number to our um curbside waste, you're looking at about 7,000 tons of grass clippings collected each each year at the curb. Um higher grass clippings were observed in both suburban and rural neighborhoods um indicating an opportunity for grass cycling across the city. A little bit more information, there was 932 uh containers, if you will, um that were collected. Um they were majority of them, 68% were paper bags, but we also have bins and bundles as well. Average quantity collected per property was just under 17 kilograms and almost 54% of the auto material was collected in wards 10 through 15. So um 10 11 12 13 14 15 were had the majority and I will stop sharing to take any questions at this time for um this presentation. I'm not seeing anything on my screen. So, we'll go to 7.5 promotion update and education update again from Ryan Kent, manager of waste policy and planning to begin the presentation. >> Thank you. Just waiting for it to pop up on the screen there. And there you go. Okay. Thank you. uh as we do at at our waste management subcommittee, it's always great to let everybody know what our promotion education team is up to, our outreach team, and we've got a few updates today. So, the first is um 20th anniversary of the Hamilton Green Bin Program. So, for those that don't know, 2026 does mark the 20th year of Hamilton having a green bin program. uh staff are carrying out a campaign to remind residents of the importance of using the green bin program in and basically celebrations. So the image you can see there is one that we're using on some of our social media. Um just to let people know about the about the 20th anniversary. So what does the campaign include? It includes that graphic. Um we're advertising on bus panels. So, um, when you do travel on a bus, the panels that are inside the bus, um, at the top, which is something a little bit new for us to be using. So, we're, uh, excited to see how that works. Uh, city the city's Instagram page, um, is helping us out a little bit. Uh, obviously, we're utilizing our own Facebook page and we are using some some digital media. Uh that campaign will run until the um waste management openhouse which is at uh the end of this month on Saturday, September 26th. That's the next update that I'm going to talk about, which is the 2026 waste open house. So, uh Waste Management Division will host our open house again September 26th. It'll be from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at our central composting facility. Uh we have held these for the last few years. Um we're very excited to um open up the central composting facility to welcome in residents. Um staff will be there on hand to educate residents on the operations of our waste facilities. Um not just the central composting facility, but as you can see in the image on the screen, we'll have staff there to talk about our landfill. So that's a a model of the landfill that that's there that residents can look at and ask questions about. Um, we'll also have uh waste collection vehicles there um that um it's always popular for children to get up and honk the horns and have a ride in in one of our electric sweepers. Um residents who attend the public house actually this year will have a couple of opportunities that we haven't offered in the past. One is to pick up a kneehigh green bin. Um no exchanges, so we won't be taking back anything that's broken, but we will have them there to to be picked up. We'll also uh be able to have uh residents drop off any used batteries um for proper disposal. Uh this openhouse is being advertised uh again on the city website um and the city's Instagram page. Again, our waste management Facebook page. Uh there is some on television on CHCH. There is some radio on 102.9. Um we are also using the spectator um for digital ads uh as well as a few other um online resources. Our next update is on our student moving campaign. So this is a few years now that we've been doing this campaign. is to educate um students at McMaster and Mohawk about proper waste uh set out so that um they do what they're supposed to do and um keep help keep the neighborhoods cleaner. Um so starting on August 13th uh we had staff attend McMaster's president's advisory committee on community relations uh to keep committee members and that committee is made up of counselors residents um the university other interested people updated on the campaign that started on August 28th where we mailed out waste guides as well as 12 trash tags to known student addresses. So, these are ones that have been identified to us um either through waste collections or bylaw or however. Uh we have about 2,396 addresses which we directly mail those items to. Um, we also had a real on that same date on August 28th, a real posted to our waste management Facebook page and posters distributed to uh some of our libraries in the neighborhood of of McMaster. From August 28th to September 3rd, um staff mailed welcome to off-campus living postcard. So, it was just a postcard to neighborhoods surrounding um McMaster. um approximately 5,000 addresses are included in that neighborhood u mail out on September 26th. So coming up, we will have a booth at McMaster. You can see the image is an example of a booth that we've had um in previous years from August 25th to the September 30th. Advertising will be done in areas heavily used by students. So um mostly on uh transit shelters from August 20th to September 30th we will have onampus advertising with school publications and posters. And then throughout the uh year but starting around this time um there will be bylaw officers to monitor student areas and provide education to um students that need a little bit more. Next update is on a safety campaign. So, in the past, staff have uh delivered campaigns to residents on, you know, how to properly set out their waste at the wintertime, how to safely drive around waste collection vehicles and these things to keep our waste collection operators uh safe. As we know, it's a a challenging and and sometimes um uh dangerous job. So, one of things that was brought to staff's attention recently is um residents setting out material uh loose and not bag. So, for example, um sawdust being put in a green bin, not in a bag or something being put in a garbage container. When those materials are put into the hopper, it blows back and goes into the eyes and face of waste collectors. So, to combat this, staff have developed a safety campaign to educate residents about not placing loose material uh into garbage cans in green bins. Um the campaign graphics will be advertised on um again the city Instagram waste management Facebook as well as CHCH for the month of October. So this is an upcoming um campaign. Uh moving forward when waste collection waste collectors, excuse me, find loose dust that wasn't disposed of properly, they will advise waste customer service and they will visit the property and either speak with the resident or leave behind a door hanger to identify the issues. So that is another piece of education that we're doing. And I believe this is the final item for this um is the wrapping of our electric sidewalk sweepers. So um in the past you will know or remember that uh the city has four gluttons that our downtown cleanliness group use and we were able to wrap them to give a little bit more uh character. Um, we have now done that or in the process of doing that with our uh, waste electric sidewalk sweepers. What you see on the screen is a mockup of the first design which is of a bear. There's another one of a deer. Um, they're currently in the process of being um, wrapped and the wraps will be uh, completed in time for our waste management openhouse um, which I spoke about previously. So, we're happy to get these um these two sweepers wrapped like our gloves. And that's the end of that piece. I will stop sharing and take any questions before moving on to 7.6. >> Lori, go ahead. >> Yes. Do we have bears around here? >> Not that I know of. >> Okay. >> Through the chair. Through the chair. Not that I know of. Yeah. Yeah. >> Um, one question the with the dust from the sawdust. Is there going to be a campaign in social media regarding that >> through the chair? We will have it on our our Facebook page. Um, and probably on the city Instagram as well, but definitely on the on our Facebook page, the waist Facebook page. 100% we will. Yes. >> Okay. >> Okay. Thanks, Heather. Thank you. Um I'm wondering if anyone has come up with an um an estimate of the total amount of organic material that's been collected in the 20 years of the uh grain bin program and an estimate of what the overall impact is of that in terms of emissions and um diverted resources. >> So through the chair um I believe you said food waste diverted Heather. uh organic matter the for the green bin in the 20 years of the green bin program if we have an estimate of what's the total collection and impact of that collection in the 20 years. So through the chair, we um we did look at that as part of the promotion. >> Um one thing that I'll just let everyone know and remind everyone that um prior to 2018 um all of our uh food waste and yard waste was collected in the green bin um together. So, um, since that time, it's only been our food waste collected in there, um, due to some some, uh, operational issues at our central composting facility. So, one of the things that we wanted to do was let residents know how much food waste was diverted um, strictly through the green bin program. It's a little bit challenging because of the amount of yard waste that was in it before. We wouldn't know the the breakdown of that material. Um, so we have a good idea over the last uh few years because it's all been food waste. We do know that if you took all of the yard waste and all of the food waste that throughout the history has been diverted into the green bin program, it is um 950,000 tonsish. So approaching a million um but again that is combining yard waste with that material and not just food waste. So, um, with our advertising, our campaign, um, we really wanted to focus on getting people to use the green bin now in food waste and focusing on that and, um, and so we we haven't advertised that particular number because we want to focus a little bit more on on food waste. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Hopefully that answers your question. >> Yeah, that thank you for that. I um so I as somebody who's done a lot of waste education and other environmental education, something that that we have met with a lot is um it it can feel really daunting when you're doing your own personal things like sorting waste or um stopping using plastic straws. It can feel so inadequate in the face of such a huge environmental problem. And sometimes hearing those big numbers of this is the collective impact of everybody taking this action over the last some amount of time, it can be really empowering and motivating. So, um I mean if you have those numbers, it could help encourage people to use the green bin now if they see that that bigger impact that this little action that um that they could potentially join in on has had >> through chair. Yes, thank you for thank you for that and staff will take that. Uh we always try and um try and let people know and we definitely the campaign focuses on the fact that your small actions make a big difference. Um definitely we and we will uh certainly have that message included into our campaign. >> Okay, Ryan, so I'm just going to interject. Are are you basically going to take Heather's uh question and comments as staff direction. >> Uh yeah, so we like I said we the campaign that we have designed doesn't specifically talk about that but I was speaking more about um moving forward. We can certainly speak more to that as well as um you know focusing on how the small action is is big changes or or has big impacts. Um yeah so >> okay >> right now some of those images have already been designed right so it might be a little difficult but moving forward we can certainly do that. >> No but I yeah that's that was I think that was Heather's point. Um let's go to 7.6 six tire program update. And again, Ryan, this is your presentation. Thank you. Yeah, just waiting for it. All right, it's up on the screen now. Thank you. uh staff thought it was very important for this group to get a little bit more uh understanding or uh to be aware of what is the provincial tire program um and to give an update on that. So program status. So let's start with the tires regulation. So there were some amendments to the tires regulations that came into effect uh January 1st, 2025. And these amendments um to the regulation have resulted in a reduction in the effectiveness of the provincial tire recycling program. So the important amendments to really let this group know about is a that the regulations have removed collection targets for tires. So to give a little bit more context, um the previous uh regulation said that a certain percentage of what a producer tire producer uh provides into the province, they are responsible for making sure that that is collected. And then the second item is decreasing the tire management target. And when we talk about tire management, it differs from collection because that really speaks to processing and recycling of of the tires. um that was um reduced from 85% to 65% of what tire producers supplied in the previous year. Um so obviously uh a big change in the responsibility of what tire producers have to do to meet the regulatory requirements as a result of these amendments. Um there have been some some negative impacts on the on the tire program uh throughout the province. The number of tire collection sites has decreased across Ontario. Tire processing capacity across the province has been reduced obviously because they don't need to the amount of tires that need to be managed, processed and recycled has reduced. Tire collection at sites has slowed or stopped. So, um, to give a little bit more context on that, if you have a tire collection site, usually what happens in a lot of cases is you sign up with a producer responsibility organization for tires. Um, and you would call them whenever you need your tires to be collected because the targets have been reduced or eliminated based on which one you're you're looking at. um those producer responsibility organiza organizations have slowed or stopped their collection of tires at at different sites. And this is uh we're talking about municipal depots, but we're also talking about uh mechanics and uh and different shops that would um have these tires. Um moving along, um let's talk about what actually hap is happening here in the city of Hamilton. So the city has three community recycling centers. Um these have collected tires in the past and they and they continue to accept tires from residents. Uh they are all registered as tire collection sites um in the provincial program which means um collecting 10 tires per day per resident um from cars and small trucks. In August of 2026, um just over 51 tons of tires were collected from the three community recycling centers by the city's contractor. As of September 4th, um you can see here um the additional bin. So, usually um the operation would be um on the recycling wall, you have a tire bin. The tire bin gets filled. um the operator would get that moved off site and dumped and there would be a bin there in place. However, we've seen the operational changes um at our community recycling centers that at our Canora site um on September 4th, we had four bins stored on site with approximately 12.4 tons of tires. Uh our mountain a mountain uh community recycling center had two, so about 10.2 two tons. Um, Dundas, we did not have any uh additional bins. Um, but the one on the the wall that that bin was 90% full. So, the currently currently the city is not experiencing any significant operational impacts from storing tires on site. Um, however, staff are very aware that with tire changeover, uh, people wanting to, um, purchase and install winter tires over the next few months that, um, there may be an impact. Um I would also say that uh we are uh pretty lucky here compared to other municipalities. Um other municipalities have had a a lot of issues. Um some have stopped collecting tires altogether or are contemplating stopping the collection of tires at their depot because they cannot keep up and um they are not being collected. uh staff are preparing plans to work with our contractor um and their collection provider to avoid any issues so that hopefully this is not something that needs to happen here in the city of Hamilton. Um 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. However, um that is not something that is an issue currently. and I will pause to take any questions at this time. >> Okay, I'm not seeing anybody raise their hand online. Um, however, Peter did send an email asking for a letter from the city >> to ask the province to review this policy on the uh tires. Um, would that motion originate with this committee at a future date or would it or would that be something that one of the council members could just bring it to PW? >> I'll take that one through the chair, Angela Story, director of waste management to councelor Tatison. Uh, we thank Peter for his question. Uh, as most of you know, we work pretty closely with Peter as well on industry association meetings. So, lots of conversations going on around the province. Um, we will definitely take into consideration um that suggestion. I think it would be best addressed, councelor Tatison, if it went to public works committee because then we could just work with clerks to to get that motion move forward. So, we can help with that if that's a direction we want to go. What we're working on right now for Hamilton is again, as manager Kent uh relayed, is we're in pretty good shape. Knock on something. and uh we need to plan and prepare which is what we're doing now for tire change season. So we want to ensure that counselors are aware through our presentation today um of the situation that we may face uh in case or just like other municipalities have faced. Uh motion is a great idea. Uh I will note though and I think Ryan mentioned it as well is that amendments are forthcoming this month. Uh the province did say that they were submitting or providing amendments to this regulation likely adjusting the targets back to something more manageable and instructions for the collectors um to be picking up tires as they come available. Uh so we either see the amendments change and they look positive or we do the motion I think would be what our suggestion would be. >> I'm good with that. Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay, moving on to the blue box program update. And Ryan, looks like you're the heavy lifter in this meeting. So, carry on. Once again, just waiting for the uh slide to come up. All right, there we go. This will be a very uh very brief update on the on the blue box program. Um I know that we've talked a lot about um the blue box program over the last uh couple years. So this will be very brief. Um, so just as a reminder, on July 15th of 2026, council approved a motion by councelor Bey to continue recycling services to non-eligible sources until the end of the current waste collection contract um funded through the tax stabilization reserve fund until March 31st, 2027, so the first quarter of 2027 and to be considered as part of the 2027 operating budget. Um, so we thought it would be a good time at this point to give a little bit of an update on first the number of properties that we're actually dealing with of non-eligible sources and that's what the table on this this slide provides. So um we've broken it these group the group into three different uh types of properties. um those that are non-nowledgeable sources including business improvement areas those uh included outside of non-b businessiness sorry they are outside of business improvement areas and city facilities. So on April 1st, 2025, which was when um we the we transitioned to the blue the blue box program provinially uh here in Hamilton, uh we had uh 700 uh properties within BAS, um just over 1,800 outside of the BAS and just under 200 city facilities. Uh on September 1st of 2026, that number has changed a little bit. So, uh you will will know that um prior to January 1st, 2026, um one reason why, um the program ran a little bit smoother, we didn't have as many issues is because uh the bluebox program um provinially collected the material in the same vehicles. So, the residential program and the non-eligible sources were all combined. As of January 1st of 2026, um that was no longer the case. and the city had to manage those non- eligible sources ourselves. Um so when we did that there was a little bit of figuring out what properties we are actually providing service to. Um because some properties um become vacant. Uh they're no longer businesses. Sometimes they're torn down. Um so we we've done a little bit of working on refining that list through letters that are mailed out uh and other means. So you can see on September 1st of this year um we had about 40 more business improvement area uh non-eligible sources of BAS um we had um so 40 more of those 82 more outside of BAS and we actually reduced our city facilities by seven um so we were up by 115 again that's a net um because we did lose some properties but we also gained some and then this is just a quick uh table to show uh since that change over on January 1st, 2026. Um the blue box related calls that we've received here at the city um you could see that it's decreased significantly from over 800 in the month of January and it's basically stabilized over the last uh from May to July of a little bit between 200 and 250 uh phone calls. So um definitely it's improved. it's it's um become much more manageable for staff. Um and we hope for this number to decrease uh in the future as as well as as the program continues maturing under the province and I will stop sharing take any questions on the blue box update. Okay, I'm not seeing any so carry on to 7.8. 8. >> Thank you. Uh this is our last item of the day. This is our status of again our newly approved 2026 2050 Hamilton solid waste management master plan. Um and our short-term action items. So, as a reminder, we when that was passed, there were a number of short-term action items that over the next 5 years staff will be focusing on um to help meet our goals. So, I will review those now. So, number one is review our curbside bulk item or bulk waste collection program. Um that was scheduled to be done by the end of this year. It was completed um at the beginning of this year. Staff were working on that. Um, this is one of those items that will inform our waste collection contract. Um, but specifically we want to identify opportunities for reuse and donation, but we also really want to assess the cost, frequency, efficiency, and accessibility of that program. So that that uh item has is complete and we did report back to the waste management subcommittee on that item. Our review, the second item is review of inclusion of gl grass clippings in the leaf and yard waste program. uh presented that here today um the waste composition study. So we'll continue to work on that to again inform the waste collection contract. Number three is assess renewable energy potential from organics. Um we've spoken at this group a few times about our organics management strategy. Um we will pre um be presenting that at the next waste management subcommittee meeting to provide the outcome of that study. Uh so the due date on the target for that is uh Q4 2026 and so we're on track to to meet that one as well. Uh moving forward and I will say that moving forward the targets you can see the first three items are 2026 and then they're about 2029 or 2030 for the ones remaining. Those are targets. Uh some of them we are well ahead of and do expect to to meet them well ahead of the target but in case anyone has any questions about that gap. So the fourth item is support repair cafes and sharing libraries. We haven't started that work, but we definitely uh will be starting it over the next uh year or two to make sure that we hit that target. And that's to partner with community organizations to host repair cafes. So um for those that are unaware to fix household items, sharing libraries so to borrow tools and tools and equipment to prevent waste generation and uh reduce disposal. Uh number five is to develop a multi-residential diversion strategy. Um we haven't started that work. Um but that is to develop a strategy to improve diversion in apartments and condos. Uh right now we're focusing a lot on um our last waste bylaw update which was passed um just recently at the end of August. Um that was important because it it allowed us to um you know require our multi-residential buildings to get private recycling um uh because they are no longer eligible for the provincial program. Uh and then other changes that we've made to that um is we're really moving forward with uh requiring those buildings to participate in the green bin program to receive service. So um we have pieces in place but we haven't really started the actual policy. Um the next two um we have spoken about and there were some questions about these two at waste management sub sorry at public works committee when we presented the um solid waste management master plan. Um the first is consider automated cartbased collection for our garbage and green bin streams and the second is to consider bi-weekly garbage collection. So, um both of these uh will be considered um following recommendations of uh studies and and these types of things, but they will be brought back um we're hoping in 2027 so they can be included in the next waste collection contract. So, um again, these are to consider them and um staff will bring back uh most likely separate reports for each of these items in 2027 to inform the next waste collection contract. Uh number eight um is to expand reuse and recycling programs at community recycling centers. And we are have just started working on that. Um staff are working on a waste composition study at our community recycling centers to really get a better understanding of what is being disposed. Um so this program um so we have started that work. Um so we want to broaden the reuse and recycling programs there. Um and pilot initiatives. Um number eight goes well with number nine which is develop a construction demolition waste management strategy. So that also has to do with the waste composition study that will be done um later this year. We are hoping to set up uh pilot programs in 2027 that will allow us to um pilot the collection of certain streams um most likely construction demolition waste at our community recycling centers. Um, so we're really looking forward to to how those will go and and mapping those pieces out. Number 10 is facilitate curbside uh diversion and reuse events. We haven't started any work on that particular item. Again, it's a 2030 item. Um, so that's expanding curbside opportunities um for items like textiles um and promote reuse events like curbside giveaway days. So um we're going to look at those moving forward. And then the last item is to explore mixed waste processing as an option for our garbage. So study the potential of mixed waste processing um processing technologies that recover recyclables and organics from garbage. So for those that are unaware of that um that technology basically the garbage goes to a facility and that facility sorts it as opposed to having the material sorted at the curb. So for example items like for example cans might be mined. Um you might be able to separate green material. Um there is uh this is very this technology is not really utilized here in North America as of yet. Um so it is something that we would like to explore. We are aware of a few municipalities that have started to explore it. So we're looking forward to what comes from from the work that those groups are doing. And that is the conclusion. So I will stop sharing in case anyone has any questions on the items for the waste master solid waste man master plan action items. >> Yeah, I'm not seeing anybody as of right now. So may I have a mover and seconder to receive the items for information? And these are items 7.1 to 7.8. Okay. I saw online I see that's Kevin and Heather and all those in favor hands up. That's unanimous. Thank you. That motion carried. Um I don't see any notices of motion and we'll get on to general information other business. Are there any items of general information or other business that anyone would like to raise? And I'm not seeing anybody's hands. So, at this time, I'd like to thank Lori, Kevin, and Heather for attending today. That's very important that you are here so we achieved quorum. I'd also like to thank our staff, um, Ryan, Joel, and Angela, and anyone else who I didn't hear from today. and also our clerks Carrie and D. And um at this time which is 11:05 I'm going to adjourn the meeting.