Establishing bag limits low enough to encourage greater participation in waste diversion programs while minimizing resident backlash is challenging. The better practice is to set the initial limit below the current average set out volume to encourage most residents to re-think their waste generation/disposal habits and to participate in alternative waste diversion programs. Most residents should be able to meet the bag limit and will not be shocked by a reduction of service. The bag limit may be gradually reduced over time until municipal waste diversion goals are met.

Typically most communities find that the average set out is 1.8 bags/week. Thus 3 bag limits tend to be ineffective for increasing diversion compared to 2 bag limits. The City of Peterborough has a 2 bag limit with no PAYT. When the community reduced the bag limit from 3 to 2 bags, it experienced a significant increase in recycling and leaf/yard waste diversion rates.

Communities that establish limits above 4/wk. rarely experience a noticeable reduction in waste landfilled or recycling/composting increases. The lower the bag limit, the higher the waste diversion rate. A 2007 KPMG study prepared for the Municipal-Industry Programs Committee (MIPC) of Waste Diversion Ontario reported that “Communities that impose bag limits of less than three per week, in general, experience a noticeable reduction in the amount of waste sent for disposal and an increase in recycling rates.  There tends to be an inverse relationship between the number of bags permitted at the curb and the diversion and recycling rates achieved” (pg 65). The study provided the following recommended bag limits for different recycling scenarios.

The better practice is to fix the initial bag limit at a number low enough to actually encourage residents to re-think their waste generation/disposal habits and/or begin to participate in available alternative waste diversion activities.  This limit is typically at or below 2 bags/week because the average set out is 1.8 bags/week in most communities.

Exemptions

Communities may offer a range of options/exemptions to support large families, infants or medical conditions. A typical approach involves the use of amnesty or double-up days on which residents are permitted to place more than the usual bag limit such as after statutory holidays when people may host parties and events that will generate abnormally high amounts of waste. This can help make limits more palatable for residents during the early years of the new policy.

The City of Ottawa has bi-weekly waste collection and permits residents to set out 6 bags of waste per collection (avg. 3 bags/wk.). Ottawa does not allow residents to purchase tags for additional bags but has a range of exemptions available to help residents producing extra waste such as families with infants or generating incontinence waste.

Bag limits will be widely unpopular and resisted by residents if there are no adequate alternative waste diversion programs and policies available within the community. For example, when York Region introduced bag limits, they expanded the Blue Box Program and rolled out a Green Bin program to provide alternative means to dispose of waste as opposed to simply limiting the amount of waste set out. Additionally, the impact on residents and number of objections/complaints will be reduced if an advance P&E campaign educates residents about all available alternatives.

Residents need ample time to prepare for any new limits. The following schedule is considered a better practice:

• 4 months to launch – begin regular community wide public service announcement (PSA) messages.
• 3 months to launch – start positive promotional information, including set out monitoring results and reasons for introducing limits (e.g. financial, extending landfill capacity, new collection contract, etc.).
• 3 months to launch – start concurrent P&E on local alternative waste diversion services available so residents minimize their perception of curbside service level reductions.

Three months should be considered a maximum timeline. Over-extending the transition timeline can actually be counterproductive because it can leave the municipality in a state of turmoil for longer than necessary and weeks of complaints can cause Council to reconsider their commitment to a policy position. One month is considered a minimum.

For municipalities interested in introducing a user pay (Pay-As-You-Throw) policy, a gradual lowering of the bag limits over several years, coupled with the ability to set out more material by purchasing tags, can help residents make incremental adjustments to their waste generation and disposal activities without feeling unduly burdened. This approach has been used in numerous communities including the City of Peterborough, Ottawa, Hamilton, London, Richmond Hill, Barrie, Halton Region, Niagara Region and Simcoe County. A limit reduction every couple of years until a municipality reaches diversion goals may help residents accept the transition to a full/partial user pay program as the next logical step in waste diversion/reduction policy.

Once bag limits are introduced, many communities will continue/lower them while implementing Pay-As-You-Throw. This reinforces the community’s aim to reduce landfilled waste and increase participation in diversion programs. Communities with bag limits and PAYT include:

• Town of the Blue Mountains – partial PAYT with 2 bag limit.
• Municipality of Grey Highlands – partial PAYT with 2 bag limit.
• Halton Region – partial PAYT with 6 bag limit (bi-weekly).
• Northumberland County – full PAYT with 3 bag limit.
• Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation – full PAYT with 4 bag limit.
• Rideau Lakes Township – full PAYT with 2 bag limit plus clear bag policy.
• Peterborough County – full PAYT with 3 bag limit.