Winnipeg city councillors to consider taking control of garbage, recycling collection
City currently contracts out all residential garbage and recycling collection services
Winnipeg city council is set to consider a proposal to bring part of the city's garbage and recycling collection service back under its control.
Water and waste committee chair Brian Mayes raised a successful motion on Friday, calling for the city to designate parts of the inner-city wards of Mynarski, Daniel McIntyre and Point Douglas, as well as the West Broadway neighbourhood, as areas where city workers would perform garbage collection.
"We've tried studies — all of them went off the rails. Let's just call the question here and have this debate. … Let's bring a portion [of collection] back in-house," the St. Vital councillor said in an interview.
All of the city's residential garbage collection is currently done by private contractors.
"Most other cities don't contract all of it out," Mayes said.
"Ottawa, Calgary, Toronto, there's a mixed model, so I think it's appropriate … to try and make sure you've got some control over cost, make sure there's enough competition coming out of the private sector."
The committee selected areas of the city that have experienced higher incidents of issues including illegal dumping, homeless encampments and arson, Mayes said.
Under his proposal, a little over one-fifth of the city would have its pickup done by city workers, he said.
"If you do have problems with one of the private collectors, you've got some backup in the system to help out with that."
Miller Waste Systems and GFL Environmental currently hold the city's garbage and recycling contracts.
Those contracts are coming to an end in 2027, which Mayes says gives city staff plenty of notice to prepare.
Gord Delbridge, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500, told the committee bringing garbage collection back under city control would make it more adaptable.
"You can evolve, you can adapt, you can make these changes on the fly if it's being done with your own workforce," said Delbridge, whose union represents city workers.
The motion was passed unanimously by the committee. It still needs final approval from council.
Biweekly pickup, commercial compost motions
Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt also had two motions before the water and waste committee Friday: one to expand a planned compost program to include commercial and industrial customers, and another to go to biweekly garbage pickup with a compost program.
The intent of the second motion is to reduce the number of vehicles on the road, he said.
The compost program aims to keep methane-producing compostable material out of city landfills, "but we're also going to add a whole new fleet of vehicles onto the road every week that are … going to be emitting diesel fumes, CO2," if compost pickup is done on top of weekly garbage pickup, Wyatt said in an interview.
"Doesn't make any sense."
City council recently approved the creation of a curbside pickup program for residential food waste, with the goal of getting it running as early as 2026.
An online survey about waste collection currently being conducted by the city asks people what they think of their garbage collection service ahead of the 2027 contract renewals.
One of the survey questions asks respondents whether they would accept biweekly garbage pickup alongside a curbside compost program.
On Friday, the water and waste committee voted to take no action on Wyatt's motions, at least for now.
"Let's stay on the track, let's get [compost pickup] voted on, let's get it in place for residential, and then move on from there," Mayes said.
"And on [biweekly garbage pickup], we'll have that debate in the spring."
The survey is open until Nov. 30. The results will be presented to council in the spring.
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