Ottawa residents throw out less waste in first year of 3-item garbage limit

One year after introducing its three-item garbage limit, the city is seeing less garbage in landfills. CTV’s Austin Lee reports.

Less waste ended up in Ottawa’s landfill during the first year of the new three-item garbage limit for the city’s households.

As of Sept. 30, 2024, 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 Ottawa residents sent 102,882 tonnes of garbage to Ottawa’s landfill between October 2024 and September 2025, down from 125,682 tonnes of garbage between October 2023 and September 2024.

“It can be difficult to assess trends through tonnage alone, as there are many factors that impact waste generation,” Rachael Jones, program manager of Ottawa’s Long-Term Planning, said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

“These can include the state of the economy, population growth, and the variations of materials disposed of as waste. A three-item policy implementation update will be provided to City Council this month.”

In September, 8,821 tonnes of garbage was sent to the Trail Road Landfill, down from 10,655 in September 2024 ahead of the new three-item limit.

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 2025 compared to 12,222 tonnes in May 2024.

In August, there was a drop of 2,892 tonnes of garbage heading to Ottawa’s landfill. Residents threw out 11,038 tonnes of garbage in August 2024 and 8,292 tonnes in August 2025.

Council approved the new three-item limit on household waste as part of a plan to extend the life of the Trail Road Landfill.

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

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.

The City of Ottawa has also identified a waste-to-energy incinerator as one of the best options to deal with the city’s future garbage, but it would cost between $497 million and $862 million to build and there is a complex regulatory approval process.