STAFF REPORT
January 28, 2000
To: Works Committee
From: Barry H. Gutteridge, Commissioner, Works and Emergency Services
Subject: Harmonization of Waste Management Fees for Multi-Unit Residential Buildings
in the City of Toronto (All Wards)
Purpose:
The purpose of this report is to discuss options for harmonizing fees for waste and recycling
containers and increasing diversion in multi-unit residential buildings in the City of Toronto.
Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
There is no financial impact at this time.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that this report be received for information.
Background:
In the Spring of 1999, the amalgamation team for Works and Emergency Services established a
working group consisting of planning and operating staff from the seven former municipalities to
develop a harmonized Solid Waste Collection By-law within Solid Waste Management Services.
A separate report outlining the public consultation process with respect to the draft consolidated
Solid Waste Management Collection By-law is scheduled to be tabled at this Works Committee.
With respect to multi-unit residential buildings, the City currently provides free (i.e. tax-funded)
garbage and recycling collection services on a citywide basis. One component of the harmonized
by-law that requires public consultation is the consistent and equitable charging of fees for waste and
recycling containers provided to multi-unit residential buildings.
In each Community Council Area, except Toronto, multi-unit residential building owners are
required to purchase or lease their bulk lift garbage containers privately and ensure that the
containers are compatible with the collection vehicles used by the City and/or its contract haulers.
In the North York Community Council Area, automated "flowerpot" containers are provided by the
City, free of charge, to locations that, for one reason or another, have not been or cannot be
converted to bulk lift collection. In the Toronto Community Council, owners of multi-unit
residential buildings are required to pay the City a bulk lift garbage container rental fee, as a
condition of receiving municipal service. The rental fee is then used to cover the cost of providing
garbage containers, as well as recycling bins and carts, to these buildings.
Although some Community Council Areas formerly provided recycling carts free of charge, the
current policy requires that multi-unit residential building owners purchase their recycling carts and
bulk bins at full cost, except for multi-residential buildings in the Toronto Community Council Area
that have paid for their recycling containers through the bulk lift garbage container rental fee.
Comments:
The diversion rate for multi-unit residential buildings is quite low, at less than 10%, compared to a
diversion rate of over 30% for single family dwellings.
Multi-unit residential buildings traditionally exhibit several barriers to recycling, including:
1) inconvenience associated with the location of the recycling containers in relation to the
garbage chute;
2) lack of building management interest and co-operation at some locations;
3) high turn-over of residents;
4) limited knowledge of the recycling program among residents;
5) communication problems associated with culture and language; and,
6) building constraints such as limited storage space and vehicle access.
The following three options are currently being considered for multi-unit residential buildings in
order to harmonize waste management fee levels and potentially increase waste diversion levels.
Option 1: Waste Containers are Provided by the Owner/Property Manager
In this option, the rental of bulk waste collection containers in the Toronto Community Council Area
would be discontinued. Owner/Property Managers who use a City owned container would either
be allowed to continue to use their current containers, free of charge, or they would be required to
purchase the container from the City, at a cost based on the age and condition of the bin. All other
Community Council Areas would continue the policy of having the building owner provide the bulk
waste container at their cost. In the North York Community Council Area, replacement and
additional automated "flowerpot" containers would be purchased by the property owner. Any
conversion of "flowerpot" containers to bulk lift containers would be at the property owner's
expense.
Option 1 could include two alternatives with respect to the provision of recycling containers - either
the City would provide the recycling containers free of charge, or the building owners would be
responsible for supplying and maintaining the containers at their cost. City provided recycling
containers, at no charge, would increase our operating costs, however, it would also provide a small
financial incentive to the building owner to increase recycling.
This option does serve to harmonize the waste and recycling container fees for multi-unit residential
dwellings and may provide an incentive to increase diversion if the City supplies the recycling
containers free of charge.
Option 2: Implement a Bulk Lift Container Rental Fee to All Multi-Unit Residential Buildings
Under this option, the City would implement a bulk lift container rental fee program similar to that
which currently operates within the Toronto Community Council Area on a city-wide basis.
Automated "flowerpot" waste containers in the North York Community Council Area could also be
provided at a lower rental fee. Recycling containers would be provided by the City free of charge
to encourage recycling.
Implementing a container rental fee across the City addresses the need to harmonize fees to multi-unit residential buildings and could provide an incentive for increased diversion, provided that the
recycling containers are supplied at no additional cost. The program would require additional
resources to administer and would require a "grandparenting" clause for buildings outside the
Toronto Community Council Area that already own their garbage containers.
A program to charge multi-unit residential buildings that receive curbside (bagged) collection would
also need to be investigated in order to ensure a fair and consistent policy. Finally, staff would need
to establish a monthly per container fee that is sufficient to at least offset the costs of the waste and
recycling containers.
Option 3: Comprehensive Service Fee System
Option 3 involves implementing a service fee system that allows the City to recoup its costs for
waste collection, transfer and disposal services, including waste container costs, using a fee structure
that is proportional to the level of use of these services. Recycling collection service and containers
would be provided at no additional charge to encourage recycling.
A service fee system could be implemented on either a per container or a per suite basis. A per tonne
service fee system was not considered, due to the fact that on-board container weighing systems
cannot legally be used for determining weights for billing in Ontario at this time.
A. Service Fee System Based on the Number of Residential Units:
This system would involve charging each multi-unit residential building a fee based on the total
number of suites or units within the building. The service fee would be calculated by dividing
the total cost to provide bulk waste collection, transfer and disposal to all multi-residential
dwellings by the total number of multi-residential suites or units in the City. Waste and
recycling containers and collection services would be provided for this fee.
While this option would be relatively easy to administer, it provides no incentive for diversion
since all buildings would be charged based on the number of units regardless of the amount of
waste generated. This option could be modified to provide a minor waste diversion incentive
by requiring the building owners to purchase or rent the bulk lift waste containers privately and
having the City supply the recycling containers free of charge.
B. Service Fee System Based on the Number of Bulk Lift Waste Containers:
This service fee would be implemented on a per waste container basis rather than a per suite
basis. Although this alternative would likely be more difficult to administer, it should provide
an incentive to increase diversion since recycling collection and containers would be provided
by the City at no additional charge. Therefore, when a building replaces a waste container with
a recycling container, the service fee would be reduced.
The implementation of a per container service fee system would require an accurate inventory
of the number of containers at each multi-unit residential building receiving municipal service.
Furthermore, a bar code or decal system may be necessary to prevent building owners from
purchasing additional containers and placing them out for collection without notifying the City.
Contract haulers providing collection services on behalf of the City would likely be called upon
to assist in tracking container usage.
It should be noted that any expansion of mandatory bin rental fees or the introduction of service fees
for multi-unit residential buildings will raise equity issues in relation to service to single family
households.
Conclusions:
The current method of charging multi-unit residential buildings for waste and recycling containers
requires harmonization. As part of the overall by-law consultation process, staff will be consulting
with multi-unit residential building owners and property managers on the options described in this
report and will report back with the results, with financial implications, prior to finalizing the draft
by-law.
Contact:
Andrew Pollock
Director, Policy and Planning
Solid Waste Management Services
Tel: (416) 392-4715
Fax: (416) 392-4754
E-mail: apolloc@toronto.ca
