City offering one-time garbage drop-off on Saturday for households experiencing long collection gap

Garbage bins on a curb in Ottawa. (CTV News Ottawa)

A new garbage schedule came into effect in Ottawa on Monday, and to help households experiencing a longer than normal period without garbage pickup, the city is offering a one-time drop-off opportunity in certain neighbourhoods.

Up to 80,000 households may see longer than usual breaks between their garbage pickups, with some neighbourhoods expected to face up to 26 days without collection.

To alleviate some of the pressure, the city says households experiencing collection gaps of 17 days or more will have the chance to drop off their garbage at one of the seven following locations on Saturday:

• Sandy Hill Community Centre at 250 Somerset Street East from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• St. Laurent Complex at 525 Côté Street from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• 951 Clyde Avenue from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Windsor Park at 1 Windsor Park Avenue from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Walter Baker Sports Centre at 100 Malvern Drive from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Ben Franklin Place at 101 Centrepointe Drive from 1:30 p.m.to 4:30 p.m.
• Nepean Woods Park and Ride at Strandherd Drive from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The city says residents will be limited to one 15-kilogram bag per household, and bulky items will not be accepted. According to the city, proof of address may be required.

According to Andrea Gay Farley, the City of Ottawa’s program manager for waste collections, the extended collection gaps some households are experiencing are due to the implementation of the new schedules.

“The reason some people have a bigger gap is they’re switching schedules, and switching what they put out, which leads to a little bit bigger gap,” she said.

Gay Farley says all households will also be able to put out more items than usual throughout the month of April while the city transitions to the new collection schedule.

“For the whole month of April, they can set out double at the curb, that means six items at the curb,” she told CTV News Ottawa.

This weekend and next week, collection schedules will be pushed by one day to accommodate Good Friday and Easter Monday.

“So, if your garbage collection is scheduled for [Friday], you’ll set it out on Saturday,” she said. “For next week, everybody is pushed one day. So, if you set out Monday, you’ll be set out Tuesday, et cetera, through the week.”

The transition to the new collection schedule has gone as expected, Gay Farley says, and the city is focusing on informing residents of the new changes.

“Things have gone very well,” Gay Farley said. “This is a city-wide change, and it touches everybody. Garbage is an essential service, everybody thinks about it once a week. So, changing anybody’s schedule affects everyone.”

With files from CTV’s Leah Larocque.

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