Woodstock should have a different colour sticker than the townships
By Mark Schadenberg
(EDITED)
Reserve your thoughts about a reserve fund to replace an Oxford landfill
until after the full scenario has been served.
There are 4 givens – in my opinion.
It is a given that it costs money to operate the County-owned landfill just east of Salford.
It costs money to bring the garbage to the landfill from Woodstock, Ingersoll, Tillsonburg and the 5 townships.
The garbage pickup program is set up to be cost recovery, but there is exactly where the problem arises for Woodstock residents in paying $3 for each tag. In my neighbourhood, for example, there are 2 condo townhouse complexes on Cardinal across the street from each other, so a garbage truck may pick up -- in theory -- as many as 40 bags in the identical location. In the countryside, meanwhile, a truck could be picking up 1 bag every 200 metres. I fail to understand the Oxford logic on this calculation. Township residents should pay $3 (or more) per pink tag, while Woodstock, Tillsonburg and Ingersoll households should pay $1. At County Council Deb Tait and mayor Jerry Acchione voted no to the most recent sticker shock increase as did Deb Gilvesy (Tillsonburg mayor), but for some (unknown) reason Bernia Martin for Woodstock voted in favor.
Circular Materials
The Province of Ontario is now the sole collector of recyclable materials (Circular Materials) and in Oxford the third-party contractor for pick up chores is Emterra, but the true cost is supposed to be paid by the creators or producer responsibility of the recycling products.
The County no longer accepts recycling at its Salford location. I fully realize the lack of volume makes it difficult to find a buyer for items collected and there is a significant cost in separating various forms of plastic, paper fibres, pop cans, etc. Woodstock has the same issue with no longer collecting recycling. There is a lot of givens, but the County should accept recycling products to assist nature in the diversion process -- it's smart and my name isn't David Suzuki.
Also, Circular Materials avoids collecting the recycling of commercial / industrial, so those companies have to register for a different system.
Currently, only Woodstock and Southwest Oxford are utilizing the full
system, which also includes diverting organics from the landfill. The little green buckets with a lid and wheels, and compostable bags is a great evolution.
The Oxford dump is in Salford, and according to the 2026 county budget, the landfill plans an expansion by 2031 into a new area at their site.
The Oxford County Waste Management & Education Centre officially opened in June 2018 -- a vast improvement over an old farm house as offices. The net-zero energy facility includes a solar photovoltaic system that produces enough electricity to offset the amount of electricity used by the entire Waste Management Facility.
The Oxford County Waste Management site has a link on the county website
which includes a video for a virtual tour of what exactly happens at the
landfill. The facility costs money to run and someday it will be full, but when is that as the County has created a reserve fund for that rainy day.
According to the County website, the current closing date for Salford is projected to be 2053. How much would a new facility, including an office and all start up expenses would be required 27 years from now? It's a great question.
Where the County – in my opinion – is falsely calculating its operating
costs is that they have created 2 bank accounts, including a reserve fund to
pay for a future dump when it’s required in 2 or 3 decades, and a second ledger
for picking up garbage and transporting it to Salford.
The County is big business with an overall budget of over $400 million with more than $275 million on the operating side. Municipal taxes for Woodstock residents went up by 5.2% in the 2026 County budget, which is a higher percentage than it really should be. The big difference isn't necessarily landfill operations, but rather why did the County require 20 more full-time employees across the board.
Links are provided as proof that my homework is complete:
https://www.oxfordcounty.ca/services-for-you/garbage-and-recycling/waste-management-facility/
https://www.oxfordcounty.ca/news/posts/2026-business-plan-and-budget-approved/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUTLPXfT3Os&t=5s
At the only Woodstock City Council meeting in August, a motion was passed to ask staff for a report and more suggestions on how to handle the on-going problem of littering and waste in Woodstock. Are residents placing their garbage in park bins or Downtown receptacles to avoid the bag tag? Should their be a more aggressive fine for littering? Can the BIA suggest ideas to assist? Should Downtown garbage cans and all other City bins be emptied more often? Should the bag tag cost be reduced? Should city staff open bags to determine the address of origin? Can the city install large dumpsters in a behind-the-scenes location to help citizens find a place for their garbage? Should the EnviroDepot on James Street receive the public's refuse? (Not including the large item drop offs that are already encouraged)
No comments:
Post a Comment