Proposed Waste Collection Changes

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Consultation has concluded

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback on the proposed waste collection changes.

The proposed changes and public feedback results were presented to City Council during a Regular Council meeting on Monday, Oct. 22, where it was decided that as part of the new solid waste collection contract, which will be implemented in spring 2019, the City will:

  • Maintain weekly curbside garbage collection and will consider a transition to every second week waste collection during the life of the new waste contract.
  • Maintain monthly winter curbside organics collection and will consider a transition to every second week

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback on the proposed waste collection changes.

The proposed changes and public feedback results were presented to City Council during a Regular Council meeting on Monday, Oct. 22, where it was decided that as part of the new solid waste collection contract, which will be implemented in spring 2019, the City will:

  • Maintain weekly curbside garbage collection and will consider a transition to every second week waste collection during the life of the new waste contract.
  • Maintain monthly winter curbside organics collection and will consider a transition to every second week winter curbside organics collection during the life of the new waste contract.
  • Maintain the City’s annual Free-cycle event.
  • Maintain the City’s annual Large Item Pickup event.
  • Discontinue the annual collection of Christmas trees, after the January 2019 event.

Again, thank you for your input and being part of the Connect Spruce Grove community! We look forward to your participation and input on future projects.


Consultation has concluded

If you have a question about the proposed waste collection changes, please ask and our Green Team will be happy to respond.

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    its been 2 weeks now that my green bin is not collected & it's about to overflow soon. what is going on? did't receive any note for changes if there is.

    alex129 asked over 5 years ago

    Thank you for your question.

    Green organics carts are collected on a weekly basis from mid-April to mid-November and monthly, during the second full week of the month, from December to March.

    Winter organics collection will take place (on your regular collection day):

    • December 10–14, 2018
    • January 14–18, 2019
    • February 11–15, 2019
    • March 11–15, 2019

    Weekly collection will resume in April 2019.

    More information can be found at www.sprucegrove.org/organics.

    Thank you!


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    Is the city of Spruce Grove just trying to piss everyone off all at once? Interested in getting out of governance of a city? Still collecting the same amount for 1/2 services? No problem. I know several good realtors. 47 years in one municipality is enough. This administration (and administration for the last 30 or so years) hasn't been able to make a good decision. I'm out.

    graham.cooper asked over 5 years ago

    Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns. All feedback on the proposed changes is important and will be included in the final report to City Council.






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    I took the survey. I was not allowed to make any comments, therefore forced to pick an answer that really was not correct. I was asked numerous times about how the changes would effect me. I'm concerned that if garbage collection changes to every 2 weeks and no big garbage collection. The impact will be to the whole city lazy people will not go to Eco center or maybe they don't have a truck or a vehicle. Even with big garbage pickup people still have couches etc in the yard. Garbage will be flying around waiting to get picked up. The big garbage pickup is what helps keep our city clean without junk in people yards. What about in the spring and fall cleanup when the green cart isn't big enough for all the leaves and grass. If spruce grove needs to improve the amount of garbage going to land fills. You need to get the apartment buildings and all the business in spruce grove to recycle.

    Tuffyy asked over 5 years ago

    Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us about the proposed changes. Your feedback is important and will form part of our final report to City Council.






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    I think The Spruce Grove waste collection is great compared to my friends in Edmonton. I think the big item pickup is very expensive and should be scrapped as I have seen it much abused

    Glen Peterson asked over 5 years ago

    Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. It will form part of our final report to City Council.



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    I am disappointed the garbage survey did not have a comment section. I feel you only asked questions that supported the city and not the residents. With the savings provided by reducing the black bin collections to bi weeky, and not doing Christmas trees there will be cost savings. We would expect the city to reduce our monthly bill to reflect the savings. I don't see any need to change the green bin schedule in the winter - it will be frozen and I dont't anticipate any resident to have a full bin. I DO NOT support a fee for the June large item pick up. We pay for this service in our taxes and there should not be an additional levy.

    kristarumberg asked over 5 years ago

    Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us about the proposed changes.

    The solid waste management program is funded by utility fees and is not funded by property taxes. The monthly solid waste utility fees pay for:

    • Curbside garbage collection and disposal
    • Curbside organics collection, processing and disposal
    • Curbside blue bag collection, processing and marketing
    • Curbside annual large item collection and disposal
    • Curbside annual Christmas tree collection and processing
    • Eco Centre operations

    The City’s solid waste contract expires in March 2019. At this time we do not know if costs will increase or not. The market for waste collection has changed and we will not know the impact until the tendering process is complete. As waste collection is funded through the monthly solid waste utility fees, the amount charged to residents will be the cost of the service received.

    Your comments are important to us and will form part of our final report to City Council.

    Thank you!


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    I used to live in St. Albert and people who had more than the allotted garbage could purchase additional bag tags. It encouraged people to recycle and if you had more garbage you could pay for more on an unexpectedly high garbage cycle. That service worked very well. I support pay for use of this service.

    kristarumberg asked over 5 years ago

    Thank you for taking the time to share your ideas with us about the proposed changes.

    Your comments have been documented and will form part of our final report to City Council.


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    If it goes to every 2 weeks I think free extra garbage tags should be given to households larger then 4 people and households with kids younger then 3. And if there are adults or older kids in diapers or have special needs that make more garbage they can apply to get a free tag as well.

    Mmercredi asked over 5 years ago

    Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us about the proposed changes. Your comments and suggestions have been documented.

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    I have no problem going to every two weeks for Waste pickup. I DO have a problem with discontinuing the Large item pickup. Many people in the city use this service. Many people do not have access to a pickup ot other truck to take things to the Eco0center. As for renting a truck, many seniors and others cannot afford to rent a vehicle. even those taking things to the Eco-0center, which taxpayers paid for, get charged for dropping materials off. We pay taxes for services which seem to be getting less and less every year

    Hugh Stevenson asked over 5 years ago

    Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns about the proposed changes to Large Item Pick Up.

    For clarification, the Large Item Pickup program and the Eco Centre operations are funded through solid waste utility fees rather than property taxes.

    The monthly solid waste utility fees pay for:

    • Curbside garbage collection and disposal
    • Curbside organics collection, processing and disposal
    • Curbside blue bag collection, processing and marketing
    • Curbside annual large item collection and disposal
    • Curbside annual Christmas tree collection and processing
    • Eco Centre operations

    The City’s solid waste contract expires in March 2019. At this time we do not know if costs will increase or not. The market for waste collection has changed and we will not know the impact until the tendering process is complete. As waste collection is funded through the monthly solid waste utility fees, the amount charged to residents will be the cost of the service received.

    Again, thank you for taking the time to share your concerns!





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    Will this lack of service result in cost savings for homeowners in any way, either in our utility bill or tax savings or is this just a service cut?

    Hollytkachuk asked over 5 years ago

    The solid waste management program is funded by utility fees and is not funded by property taxes. The monthly solid waste utility fees pay for:

    • Curbside garbage collection and disposal
    • Curbside organics collection, processing and disposal
    • Curbside blue bag collection, processing and marketing
    • Curbside annual large item collection and disposal
    • Curbside annual Christmas tree collection and processing
    • Eco Centre operations

    Since the introduction of the blue bag program in 2007, service levels have remained largely unchanged.

    The City’s solid waste contract expires in March 2019. At this time we do not know if costs will increase or not. The market for waste collection has changed and we will not know the impact until the tendering process is complete. As waste collection is funded through the monthly solid waste utility fees, the amount charged to residents will be the cost of the service received.

    Your question is important to us. Thank you for taking the time to ask!

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    I am in favour of trying to get residents to increase their recycling efforts. I am not sure if this proposal will have that result but it seems to be encouraging a positive change. However, reducing the collection of garbage to my home is a decrease in service which should result in a decrease of costs to me. I opted to take the smaller bin which saves me a bit each month. Now I will lose that savings as I will have to get the larger bin back. So not only will I be paying the same fees for half the collection my bill will actually increase. I see what costs are based on, however, as a resident what I see and I’m sure I’m not the only one, is that my services are being reduced and the fees are staying the same. I’m getting less in the end and paying the same.

    Ltobert asked over 5 years ago

    Thank you for your comments.

    Curbside collection fees are based on cost-recovery for operational costs, which we expect to increase as landfill space decreases.

    The proposed change of having the black waste cart collected every second week still has the  green organics cart and blue bags collected weekly (with the exception of organics collection in the winter months). It is expected that this change would not only help manage costs but also encourage more diversion. Our most recent curbside audit shows that we are not diverting as much as we should be (meaning organic materials and recycling is still showing up in black waste carts).

    Your comments are important to us. Thank you for taking the time to share!