Ottawa's new waste plan looks to extend life of Trail Road Landfill until 2049

The City of Ottawa is looking to extend the life of the Trail Road Landfill to 2049 through several initiatives to reduce the amount of waste residents are throwing out, deferring the multi-million-dollar cost of a new landfill or building a waste-to-energy facility.

The City of Ottawa is looking to extend the life of the Trail Road Landfill to 2049 through several initiatives to reduce the amount of waste residents are throwing out, deferring the multi-million-dollar cost of a new landfill or building a waste-to-energy facility.

City staff presented the long-range Ottawa Solid Waste Master Plan, the 30-year plan guiding waste management and diversion until 2054. The plan outlines steps the city should take in a bid to extend the life of the city's landfill for another 14 years, while also hiking fees for waste collection.

"Ottawa's generating far more garbage than it can manage sustainably," Coun. Shawn Menard told councillors and the media on Friday.

"The waste plan doesn't offer one single bullet solution to these challenges. Instead, it offers a list of actions that tackle the problem from many different angles."

The plan comes as the city's municipal dump, the Trail Road Landfill, is rapidly filling up, with the landfill expected to be full between 2034 and 2036.  A new landfill, if required in 2034, would cost $591 million, according to the city.

"To defer costly alternatives to managing waste, whether that be a new technology or a new landfill, we need to make changes now," Alain Gonthier, Public Works Department general manager, told councillors.

"To do this, we must work together. The more residents reduce their waste, use their green bins and ensure recycling maximized… we will be able to make an impact on diversion levels and cost deferrals."