Town to push residents to recycle more to reduce landfill costs
The Town of Woodstock is exploring ways to reduce the amount of garbage it sends to the landfill, in the hopes of saving the municipality some money.
The amount of waste generated in the region has been steadily increasing, while recycling rates have decreased from nearly 10 per cent (an already low figure) to now less than four per cent.
Circular Materials is the company responsible for managing recycling in New Brunswick. It’s seeking to increase blue bin pickup from once a month to every other week.
If the regional municipalities of Woodstock, the District of Carleton North, the Town of Hartland, and Lakeland Ridges all agree, the changes to the pickup schedule will begin in 2026. Municipalities currently don’t pay for recycling pickups.
At the Woodstock Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 24, Mayor Trina Jones said that while many residents living in smaller households can handle the once-monthly pickups, many homes can’t.
“What we’re hearing and seeing is because we’re only picking up recycling once a month, as that gets full, the rest isn’t being recycled, while they carry over and wait for pickup day. It’s going into the garbage and landfills. We’ll hope to see improvements all around,” said Jones.
The town is also considering changes to regular garbage pickup, including pickups during recycling weeks and restricting residents to one 240-litre bin of garbage per week.
Woodstock CAO Allan Walker said solid waste tipping fees were estimated to increase by three per cent this year, but have actually gone up by 15 per cent, adding $75,000 to the municipality’s solid waste bill. The town hopes that by investing in armed trucks, adjusting garbage and recycling schedules, and introducing organic pickups by 2028, the municipality will be able to save money in the long term.
In Woodstock, there were 40 collections of solid waste in 2024, resulting in a cost of $582,000. If plans to move to weekly pickup are approved by July 1, 2026, there would be 46 pickups, resulting in a total cost of $692,000. Under the proposed waste plan, pickups would increase to 52 collections in 2027, at a cost of just under $800,000.
“Over the two year period, you’re adding $200,00 but you’re increasing your frequency significantly,” said Walker.
In February, the River Valley Sun reported on the new Circular Materials recycling initiative, which encourages multi-unit landlords to participate in the recycling program.
Fred Thompson-Brown is the Director of Environmental Health and Public Safety for the Western Valley Regional Service Commission. In an email to the River Valley Sun, he confirmed that, so far, 16 apartment blocks in Woodstock are using the program. That amounts to 222 homes currently being served. Thompson-Brown said they are working to increase that number.
“The overall amount of waste generated within the region is on a steady increase year after year,” added Thompson-Brown. “We are over a thousand tons higher than this time last year, which is an issue as disposal for garbage is a major part of each municipality’s budget expenditure. The recycling service being free, is the cheapest way we have of diverting valuable materials and saving tax dollars.”
The Woodstock Town Council aims to decide on the solid waste plan in October.
