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Help shape the future of waste collection downtown
About the project
The City of Guelph maintains a Solid Waste Management Master Plan (SWMMP) to set high level priorities and initiatives for the City related to waste management. The most recent SWMMP review was completed in 2021. The SWMMP review included a specific sub-report, Task 8: Downtown Service Review that studied issues and opportunities in Guelph’s Downtown Collection Area. The Downtown Service Review had two recommendations:
Prioritize public space containers for use by pedestrians visiting the downtown, and
Implement a dedicated collection strategy for downtown residential, industrial, commercial, and institutional properties
Before bringing these recommendations to Council for approval, the City is doing more engagement and analysis to better understand the waste management solutions that will work best for downtown residents, businesses, services, and their patrons.
Downtown Waste Working Group
This spring and summer, downtown residents, businesses, and services, alongside City staff from affected departments, participated in the Downtown Waste Working Group according to this Terms of Reference. Over a series of three workshops, the Working Group reviewed the Solid Waste Management Master Plan’s findings, investigated challenges and opportunities, established key design criteria, and ultimately developed three preliminary concepts for the consideration. The presentation slides and notes from the Downtown Waste Working Group proceedings can be found under the Documents bar at the side of this page.
Preliminary concepts
Each concept works differently and would have a different effect on our downtown streetscape. See below for a description of each option.
Underground communal containers
Cart collection with enclosed outdoor storage permitted
Doorstop collection service
Stay informed
Sign up for updates by filling in the Stay Informed box on this page or Register for updates on this project and others at the City of Guelph
Help shape the future of waste collection downtown
About the project
The City of Guelph maintains a Solid Waste Management Master Plan (SWMMP) to set high level priorities and initiatives for the City related to waste management. The most recent SWMMP review was completed in 2021. The SWMMP review included a specific sub-report, Task 8: Downtown Service Review that studied issues and opportunities in Guelph’s Downtown Collection Area. The Downtown Service Review had two recommendations:
Prioritize public space containers for use by pedestrians visiting the downtown, and
Implement a dedicated collection strategy for downtown residential, industrial, commercial, and institutional properties
Before bringing these recommendations to Council for approval, the City is doing more engagement and analysis to better understand the waste management solutions that will work best for downtown residents, businesses, services, and their patrons.
Downtown Waste Working Group
This spring and summer, downtown residents, businesses, and services, alongside City staff from affected departments, participated in the Downtown Waste Working Group according to this Terms of Reference. Over a series of three workshops, the Working Group reviewed the Solid Waste Management Master Plan’s findings, investigated challenges and opportunities, established key design criteria, and ultimately developed three preliminary concepts for the consideration. The presentation slides and notes from the Downtown Waste Working Group proceedings can be found under the Documents bar at the side of this page.
Preliminary concepts
Each concept works differently and would have a different effect on our downtown streetscape. See below for a description of each option.
Underground communal containers
Cart collection with enclosed outdoor storage permitted
Doorstop collection service
Stay informed
Sign up for updates by filling in the Stay Informed box on this page or Register for updates on this project and others at the City of Guelph
This survey will introduce three preliminary downtown waste collection concepts that were reviewed and selected by a working group of downtown business, service and resident representatives. The concepts illustrate how the alternatives might be put into practice; each is designed considering the criteria rated as the most important by the working group.
In this survey we will ask you to use the criteria the working group developed and to score each concept. The information you provide will impact decision-making for the future of downtown waste management. Please note that no design has been decided upon yet. This survey is to help us understand the views of many businesses and residents in the downtown.
As you consider the concepts please note that all concepts include the following:
Phasing out of the use of the current public space containers for waste from commercial, institutional, and residential properties and improving the public space containers for visitor use
Ability of any property or business to use a private waste collector if City service does not meet their needs
Underground communal containers
Cart collection with enclosed outdoor storage permitted 
Doorstop collection service 
