Ottawa residents sending less waste to the landfill following launch of 3-item garbage limit

Ottawa's 3-item garbage limit

Ottawa residents are sending less garbage to the city’s landfill since the launch of the new three-item garbage limit.

Last September, the city implemented a new limit on household waste being placed at the curb as part of a plan to extend the life of the Trail Road Landfill. Under the new garbage limits, households are limited to a maximum of three items of garbage every two weeks, with yellow bags required for any items over the three-item limit.

Statistics provided to CTV News Ottawa show 41,506 tonnes of garbage was sent to Ottawa’s landfill in the first five months of 2025, down from 51,279 tonnes of garbage during the January to May period in 2024. Residents sent 51,504 tonnes of waste to the landfill in the January to May period of 2023.

“The decrease may be attributed to several factors, including the implementation of the three-item garbage limit, enhanced recycling efforts, changes in waste management policies, weather-related emergencies, and shifts in consumer behaviour,” Andrea Gray Farley, program manager of program planning at Public Works, said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

May saw the largest decrease in the amount of waste being sent to the landfill, with 9,393 tonnes of waste thrown out in May compared to 12,222 tonnes in 2024.

A total of 26,277 tonnes of garbage was sent to the city’s landfill in October, November and December, down from 31,180 tonnes during the same three months of 2023.

The three-item garbage limit is one of several steps the City of Ottawa is taking to reduce the amount of waste heading to the landfill and extend the life of the Trail Road Landfill.

• Ban on industrial waste at Trail Road landfill expected to extend dump’s life by 1 year

As of July 1, the city’s landfill will no longer be accepting industrial, commercial and institutional waste. All industrial, commercial and institutional waste (IC&I) will be accepted at private landfills.

“IC&I waste is bulky and hard to compact which takes up airspace much quicker than residential waste,” Shelley McDonald, director of Solid Waste Services, said in a memo to council last month.

“Staff calculated that banning IC&I waste could extend the life of Trail by approximately one year. The City is uniquely positioned to preserve Trail’s capacity through the ban of IC&I waste, given the number of private sector landfills and transfer stations located within the city’s boundaries and within 100 km of its boundaries that are open to accepting IC&I waste.”

The ban on waste at Trail Road Landfill applies to all commercial vehicles, vehicles larger than a half-ton pickup, trailers with more than one axle, any vehicle or trailer with a dumping mechanism or any vehicle with business markings.