The City of Toronto is making it easier for dog owners across the city to discard their dog waste by expanding a pilot project to collect dog waste in street litter bins.
The third phase includes a total of 100 bins, with 38 bins from the previous two phases and 62 new bins in additional locations around the city. For the pilot, one compartment on certain existing street litter bins has been converted to accept dog waste. These compartments are labelled with stickers and should only be used to dispose of dog waste. All pilot bins are located near parks or in areas with a high concentration of dogs.
The first phase of the pilot began in May 2021 with 10 pilot bins, followed by the second phase in August 2021 with 38 bins – eight from the first phase and 30 additional bins in new locations. In the first two phases of the pilot, approximately 60 per cent of the organic waste usually put in garbage or recycling compartments in street litter bins was put in the dog waste compartment, successfully reducing the amount of dog waste going to landfill and decreasing recycling contamination.
The third phase of the pilot will run for six months. Once the pilot is complete, the City will assess the overall results and determine next steps.
The City created the pilot in response to field observations and waste audits showing a steady increase in dog waste disposal in litter bins. A spring 2020 audit of a number of street litter bins located near parks and in areas with a high concentration of dogs found that 45 per cent of waste (by weight) in these bins was organic material and that 99 per cent of that organic material was dog waste. The goal of the pilot is to confirm if dog waste collection in street litter bins is feasible and can help the City divert more dog waste from landfill.
Organic material collected by the City is processed to create digester solids, which go on to become compost that can be used to nourish soil. The processing of organics also produces biogas, which can be upgraded into renewable natural gas and used by the City to help power its vehicles and facilities, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The new street litter bin pilot also supports the City’s efforts to reduce recycling contamination in public space bins. Toronto has had success with similar programs in the past, including the installation of green bins in parks. This program has diverted over 500 tonnes of organic material since it began in 2018.
For street litter bins where there is not a compartment for dog waste, residents are asked to dispose of it in the garbage or take it home and put it in their green bin. Dog waste should never be put in the recycling or left on the ground. Any bag can be used for dog waste; it does not have to be compostable.
More information about organics disposal and a full list of pilot bin locations is available on the City’s Green Bin (Organics) webpage: www.toronto.ca/services-paymen
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“The first two phases of this pilot have demonstrated the need for a program that diverts waste from our city’s landfill and into its appropriate place. I am pleased to see the results demonstrate why this program is necessary and important. Expanding it further will allow us to see better results and to understand the feasibility of the pilot program. Thank you to all of the residents who have used these bins. You are helping to keep our streets clean and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. I encourage residents to look out for these bins and to use them when they are out with their dogs.”
– Mayor John Tory
Source Province of Ontario
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