Talking trash: In Carleton Place, Ont., bag tags have been the norm for decades

How the garbage bag tag works in Carleton Place CTV's Tyler Fleming shows us how one eastern Ontario community has limited the amount of garbage that residents can put to the curb.

The city of Ottawa’s garbage idea to tag bags in a pay-as-you-throw system tosses out the question of whether or not it’s a cash grab, but in nearby Carleton Place, the idea has been the norm for the better part of 30 years.

When you talk trash to Tom Bickford, he can tell you the rules.

“You can put out one bag a week,” says the Carleton Place resident. “It’s just the two of us now and we haven’t had to buy tags in a while, but when the kids were at home we were filling the bags for sure.”

In Carleton Place, the first garbage bag or filled trashcan is untagged, but putting out more requires residents to purchase a sticker at $3 each. After Christmas, three garbage bags can be put out.

Larger Items, like sofas, bookcases, or tables, will require up to four tags depending on the size. Tags can be purchased at City Hall, the visitors centre, or in a ten-pack at the Shoppers Drug Mart.

The program has been in place for decades, and for many community members—some who don’t know any different—it’s just the way it is.

“I have two small kids and they make a lot of garbage,” says resident Brittiny Lepage. “It’s okay. It can be inconvenient sometimes, like when it’s garbage day and you realize you have one sticker and you need four for something bigger for like a futon or a couch … I use big trash cans so I can kind of sneak an extra bag on top if I need to.”

Trash collection in Carelton Place is weekly, unlike Ottawa’s biweekly schedule, which points to why the city would provide enough tags for two bags per pickup.

But what the city collects in the black sacks at the curb can vary from Ottawa. Food waste is not recycled.

Waste diversion is the reason Ottawa is considering a cash-to-trash system. The hope is to extend the life of the Trail Road Landfill, which is said to be filling up fast.

Bickford says he remembers the resistance when the program was first implemented and that people would toss bags in dumpsters, but also notes that over time, attitudes and habits shifted, and recycling increased.

“It helps the town for sure. You see people putting out their blue and yellow boxes and there is stuff in it,” he says. “We’d love to have a green box because them even more would get diverted … we have to pay attention otherwise we will be living in our own garbage.”

Across Ontario, the city of Ottawa says 132 municipalities have a pay-as-you-throw system.

If council votes to proceed with a bag tag program, it would be implemented in spring 2024.