A new green bin curbside organics waste collection service is coming to Georgian Bluffs.
Township council voted 5-2 at its meeting on April 15 to endorse a staff recommendation to authorize a new contract with Waste Management that will introduce weekly organics collection, and also include a new automated collection service using carts.
Garbage and recycling will be picked up bi-weekly in Georgian Bluffs. The township is also phasing out garbage bag tags when its new waste management contract services are implemented, which is expected to be around July 6.
The township’s new contract with Waste Management will be a five-year term, which two optional one-year extensions, according to a staff report.
Georgian Bluffs’ annual cost for waste collection services under the new contract is pegged at $810,000. The township will spend an additional $87,000 for the continuation of manual waste collection services at 136 addresses where the new automated cart system isn’t feasible, due to access or road conditions.
The township’s 2026 budget included a 1.5 per cent dedicated levy increase for waste.
More than 5,500 properties are serviced through Georgian Bluffs’ waste management contract.
Georgian Bluffs has launched a webpage to allow residents to review the changes coming in the township’s waste management services. It says each household will receive separate carts for garbage, recycling and organics waste. The standard garbage cart is 64-gallons, recycling will be 96 gallons and green bin (organics) is 32 gallons.
All the carts have wheels and lids. Residents have the option of obtaining an additional garbage cart if needed, at an annual fee of $130.
Councillors Rick Winters and Isaac Shouldice voted against the recommendation to move ahead with the new contracted waste management services. Both raised concerns about cost.
“I struggle with cost of organics in our rural municipality,” Winters says.
Shouldice: “For me it’s the cost. It’s hard to support it because of the cost, that’s all.”
The staff report to council on the new waste management contract says a survey conducted last year in Georgian Bluffs found strong support (about 83 per cent) for introducing a curbside organics collection program in the township. It was a phone survey of about 400 residents.
Council decided last year to include green bin organics waste collection in the township’s next waste management contract. Last week’s resolution formalized the bylaw and terms of the contract.