Concept descriptions

Preliminary concepts

The Downtown Waste Working Group has produced three preliminary design concepts. Each concept works differently and would have a different effect on our downtown streetscape.

A: Underground communal containers

A black and white pictogram depicting a person holding a bag of waste next to a waste container. the container looks to be a regular size above ground but has an larger underground compartment half full of waste. A map depicting the bins would be placed strategically in the downtown is adjacent to the image.

This concept uses clusters of shared underground containers that businesses, residents, and services would have 24 hour/7 day access for disposing of garbage, recycling, and organic waste. The large underground storage volume with this option makes overfilling less likely and allows us to have fewer containers in our public space, freeing up room for other uses like seating and trees. The underground containers would be collected by a truck early in the morning before streets are busy and would use technology to signal when they need to be emptied.

B: Doorstep collection service

This concept frees up public space from waste containers by using a mobile collection service that would collect garbage, recycling, and organics directly from each building without setting it out for collection beforehand. A collector with a small cart would travel down sidewalks and laneways, stopping at each address. To accommodate different needs of businesses, services, and residents, the collection service may be repeated multiple times per day. For missed pickups, a small number of controlled-access, above-ground bins would also be provided. An app would be available for users to be notified of the position of the collection service, their anticipated pickup time, and when they are about to arrive.

C: Cart collection with enclosed outdoor storage permitted

A black and white pictogram showing a waste cart being moved from the door of a business to an outdoor enclosure and then to the curb.

This concept is similar to our current system but provides an option for users who have barriers to storing carts on their property. All users would be required to use carts, not public space containers, but would be provided the option to store them outdoors in locked, odour-, leak-, and pest-resistant enclosures. The style and placement of the enclosures would follow a design guideline developed with the input of the downtown community and pass through a review and approval process. Enclosures would be in the public space in front of a building's property or in another appropriate location that would not infringe on neighbours. Users would need to set out carts for collection and return them to the enclosures.