County eyeing switch to cart-based garbage collection system

GUELPH - Wellington County residents can likley expect yellow bags to be replaced with new garbage and green bin carts come 2028.

If council approves the switch from bins-and-bags to a cart-based system, residents would likely receive a garbage and organics bin in the spring of 2028 before an anticipated summer start to a new automated collection system.

Garbage carts on roller wheels with flip-top lids would be emptied into trucks outfitted with a robotic arm operated by a joystick to grab the carts.

The proposed switch is partly in response to waste collection companies declining to bid on manual collection contracts.

In an April committee report, solid waste services manger Das Soligo noted the automated system reduces worker injuries and insurance costs and is “superior” when to comes to labour recruitment and retention.

“A collection contractor that is fully staffed with a motivated workforce is far more resilient and able to provide service continuity throughout challenging circumstances such as severe winter weather,” Soligo wrote in the report.

He also noted “many county residents” also requested a change to a cart-based system, and Circular Materials – the province’s recycling company – is replacing blue bins with carts this year in the county.

The county’s 14 downtown cores could still see manual collection to prevent carts from cluttering downtown sidewalks.

Soligo recommended the switch to a cart-based system in October 2025, but councillors want to compare pricing with manual collection.

The county’s current seven-year collection contract with Waste Management expires next year, with bids for a new contract being received now.

The county is also exploring a five-day pickup schedule, up from the current four-days.

Soligo anticipates a recommendation on who to go with will go to council for a decision next month.

The new contract, along with a switch to carts should council approve it, is expected to take effect in 2028, following a one-year extension with Waste Management to provide the successful bidder time to buy automated trucks.

In anticipation of the switch, council approved the potential spending of last year’s entire $4.6-million county surplus on carts at an April 30 meeting.

The surplus largely came from savings in policing, government departments, provincial funding, and a better-than-expected employee benefits renewal. The surplus totals 3.3 per cent of the 2025 tax levy.

Residents would get a choice between a 360-, 240- and 120-litre garbage cart.
The 360-litre cart can fit three full-size garbage bags. Organics carts would have a standard 120-litre capacity.

For the roughly two per cent of residents who exceed three bags on pickup day, county staff are proposing a $3 bag-tag fee for up to three overflow bags.

If council approves switching the county over to carts – bringing the county in line with nearby municipalities such as Guelph and Waterloo Region – county staff would develop a plan to wind down the current user-pay garbage bag system.