Sudbury may end landfill tipping fee holidays in favour of single free trip

Greater Sudbury may eliminate the spring and fall tipping fee holidays at city landfills in favour of allowing residents to bring up to 100 kg of waste to the landfill once a year. (File)

Greater Sudbury may eliminate the spring and fall tipping fee holidays at city landfills in favour of allowing residents to bring up to 100 kg of waste to the landfill once a year.

The plan would cost an estimated $290,952 annually, and would also eliminate the weekly 50 kg exemption that each household was allowed to bring to the landfill each week.

“Prior to 2014, the residential tipping fee exemption allowed each private motor vehicle to dispose up to 100 kg of waste per week at no charge,” said a staff report outlining eight options.

“In 2013, council approved reducing this exemption to 50 kg per week to encourage greater waste separation and diversion and to discourage unnecessary disposal of materials that could otherwise be diverted from landfill.”

Weekly collection and fee exemptions

“Greater Sudbury remains the only Ontario municipality that provides residents with both a weekly landfill exemption and full roadside garbage collection services,” the report added.

The report recommends Option 8, which would eliminate the spring and fall tipping holidays, as well as the 50 kg weekly exemption.

Instead, residents would be allowed to bring up to 100 kg once a year, “applied automatically during the first landfill visit within the calendar year.”

Homes that don’t have weekly waste pickup could register “for a weekly residential gate fee and 50 kg tipping fee exemption,” the report said.

“This program would be available by registration only and the exemption would be provided by way of an annual rebate based on actual landfill use of the registered vehicle for the household in the previous year.”

The full report, including outlines of each of the eight options, can be found here.