Garbage collection will cost most Edmonton homes the same in 2022
CBC
Nearly 400,000 households in Edmonton will pay the same for garbage pickup next year, after city council's utility committee agreed Thursday to a zero per cent rate increase in the waste services budget for 2022.
It means single-family and multi-unit homes will pay $43.32 a month for a 120-litre garbage cart and $48.32 for a 240-litre cart until Dec. 31, 2022.
Council is expected to give the waste services budget final approval, along with the operating and capital budgets, next week.
Multi-unit buildings like condos and apartment buildings that are transitioning to curbside cart service will see an increase of less than $4.00 a month, the budget says.
At the utility committee meeting, councillors didn't belabour the zero per cent increase but instead took the chance to review the progress and hiccups of the city's new garbage collection system.
Tim Cartmell, councillor for Ward pihêsiwin, suggested the city look at offering different sized bins depending on the need of the household.
"I've got a lot of constituents, for instance — empty nesters, for lack of a better word, they can't fill that green bin in a week, or two or even in a month, so should they get a smaller bin and pay half the rate."
Some councillors raised issues with the seasonal yard waste pickup, in which crews picked up leaves, grass and twigs in clear plastic or brown paper bags two times over the fall.
Erin Rutherford, councillor for Ward Anirniq, said some residents, including herself, had issues with the yard waste pickup.
"My yard waste was not picked up," Rutherford said during the meeting. "We put it out on the date that it was supposed to be picked up — it wasn't."
Her husband called the city's 311 complaint line, she said.
"311 told him [to] put it out, it'll be picked up within a week. It's now December and it's still sitting in our back alley."
Denis Jubinville, branch manager of waste services, said his team is reviewing how it went this year, to pin down a more effective way of doing the seasonal pickup in the spring.
"We did hear what you're hearing as well, so I want to acknowledge that," Jubinville told Rutherford.
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