THUNDER BAY — The implementation of a curbside collection program for food and organic waste will be delayed.
But some city residents will begin using standardized collection carts for their household garbage starting this fall, as the city rolls out a new fleet of side-loading trucks.
The city had also planned to launch the Ontario government's mandated "green bin" program this year.
A staff report for city council explains the new target for that is the fall of 2026, because of supply-chain issues related to the delivery of the new vehicles, and because of complexities around arranging for an organics processing facility.
It's expected the city will award a contract for the processing plant, which will be the first of its kind in Northwestern Ontario, in the coming months.
Eight new waste-collection vehicles costing about $5 million in total are due to arrive in stages this year.
Similar to the GFL recycling trucks, they will use mechanical arms to retrieve green bins as well as bins containing other household waste.
Once the program is fully implemented, every home will be required to use three standardized carts – one each for organics, garbage and recycling.
Green bins will be picked up weekly, while garbage collection will be scaled back to every second week.
The automated retrieval system requires only one operator on each vehicle instead of the current crew of two.
This fall, the city plans to do a 'soft launch' of the new trucks for collection of garbage only, and only on certain routes.
The report to council notes that a soft launch "will allow us to progress towards full implementation, while examining lessons learned along the way."
By the spring of 2026, the city expects to have all homes onboarded with automated carts for the collection of garbage only.
