2009-2011 Collection Calendars were distributed in the mail in November 2009. We have a new format this year, which looks more like a calendar. If you did not receive your calendar, you can contact 3-1-1 to have a hardcopy delivered, pick one up at the client service center nearest you, or you can view it online at ottawa.ca.

The City is working with local retailers to ensure you have access to paper-based bin liners. These bags (similar to your yard waste bags) can be used to line the green bin. While not necessary, they do help to keep your bin tidy. For a low cost alternative, try lining the bottom of your bin with crumpled newspaper, and mix yard waste in. Check out other helpful hints for using your green bin.

While it’s not necessary to use paper liners for your green bin, there are paper liner bags available for both the kitchen container and the green bin at most major retailers. You can also use leaf and yard waste bags in the larger green bin.

You can also use old newspapers to line the bin, and create an Origami Bin Liner for the kitchen container, using this step-by-step guide.

Paper bags are available at most major retailers including:

• Canadian Tire
• Home Depot
• Home Hardware
• Loblaws
• Metro
• Rona
• Sobeys
• Zellers
• Costco

Your green bin can take lots of different materials – like table scraps, kitty litter, leaves and grass from your yard, food-soiled paper products and even dryer lint. Check our “What goes in the bin” page for more details, or download the list of items for easy reference.

On November 27, 2009, the Audit, Budget and Finance Committee voted to fund the Green Bin program on the general tax rate, as opposed to the fee proposal put forward by the Councillor sponsorship group in the Planning and Environment Committee budget. As such, garbage collection and diversion programs including the green bin will be part of resident’s property taxes.

For the average household, this means a cost of $23 a year for the pick up of the blue and black items, and an additional $38 a year for the pick up and processing of green bin organic materials. With $89 for garbage collection this works out to less than $2.88 per week over the course of the year – less than the cost of a latte.

The move is subject to council approval during final budget deliberations in January.

Collection of green bins has begun. You can refer to your Collection Calendar for your exact start date – which will fall on your regular collection day, bi-weekly throughout the winter, and weekly during the spring, summer and fall.

No worries. The first phase of the program focuses on single residential properties, low-rise multi-unit residential properties with six units or less and rural village residents with curb-side pick. That’s the majority of Ottawa residents, so if you fall into this group of residents and haven’t received your bin, contact Solid Waste Operations or call 3-1-1.

It may take two to three weeks for retailers to adjust to the demand for the paper liners now collection has started. The City of Ottawa has been communicating program requirements to the retailers throughout the year leading up to the collection in 2010, but estimating retail quantities for any new, in-demand product can often be a challenge for retailers.

It is not necessary to line your kitchen or green bin container. However, residents may find that doing so helps keep their bins neat, or contents from freezing in the winter time. If you are unable to purchase paper liners at this time, you can also use newspaper or any other paper-based product (like cereal boxes or waxed milk cartons) to line the bottom of your container(s). Wrapping items in newsprint or flyers prior to placement in the green bin will also help to keep the containers clean until you can obtain more purchased paper liners.

Your new green bin can take many different types of items—including leaf and yard waste. The organic waste collected in your green bin will also be treated differently, travelling from the curb to a special indoor processing facility where it will be turned into compost—perfect for gardens.

Ottawa’s green bin is an 80 litre bin approximately 16 inches wide by 18 inches deep and 29 inches tall. It’s suitable for an average household, and can also accept your leaf and yard waste. Remember that during the spring and summer when there is lots of leaf and yard waste, collection will be weekly.

That’s a good question. Plastic, even those advertised as compostable or biodegradeable don’t break down at the same rate as organic waste. We need to keep them out of the green bin in order to make sure the composting process works right. Here’s why plastics won’t work in the green bin:

• First, plastic will impede the composting process: Plastic prevents the flow of air through the organic material, causing it to smell and slowing the process.
• Second, plastic residue will still remain: Compost would have to be screened to remove residue, adding to costs and the final compost will still contain some residue.

By not allowing plastics in the Ottawa Green Bin program, we can keep the cost of the program down, eliminate the need for contaminant disposal and create a better quality of compost.

The City of Ottawa has recently been informed by Orgaworld Canada that their current Ministry of Environment Certificate of Approval issued by the Ministry of the Environment for their composting facility does not include dog feces as an acceptable material.

The certificate does allow for the receipt and handling of other small pet feces, as long as it is included as a part of cat litter and small animal bedding materials.

 If you’ve just moved and need a bin, or if yours was stolen, contact Solid Waste Operations (see our contact page for numbers and email) or visit a client service centre. You can also purchase additional bins at the service centres.

Urban centers

Monday – Friday

• City Hall Client Service Centre
  110 Laurier Avenue West
  Ottawa, ON, K1P 1J1
  Monday – Friday (8:30-5:00)
• Kanata Client Service Centre
  580 Terry Fox Drive
  Kanata, ON, K2L 4C2
  Monday – Friday (8:30-5:00)
• Ben Franklin Place Client Service Centre
  101 Centrepointe Drive
  Nepean, ON, K2G 5K7
  Monday – Friday (8:30-4:30)
• Orléans Client Service Centre
  255 Centrum Boulevard, Suite 100
  Orléans, ON, K1E 3V8
  Monday – Friday (8:30-4:30)

Rural centres

Open one day a week as indicated below

• West Carleton Client Service Centre
  5670 Carp Road
  Kinburn, ON, K0A 2H0
  Wednesdays (8:30-4:30)
• North Gower Client Service Centre
  2155 Roger Stevens Drive
  North Gower, ON, K0A 2T0
  Thursdays (8:30-4:30)  
• Metcalfe Client Service Centre
  8243 Victoria Street
  Metcalfe, ON, K0A 2P0
  Tuesdays (8:30-4:30)

No. The Ottawa bins have been specially designed to fit the automatic lifts on the collection vehicles.