Publications and Resources

Annual reports

• 2021 Annual Waste Summary
• 2020 Waste Management Division Annual Report
• 2019 Waste Management Division Annual Report
• 2018 Waste Management Division Annual Report

Blue Box program

• What plastic bags and outer wrap to recycle
• Myths versus facts about recycling (December, 2019)
• History of the blue box factsheet 

Learn more about federal and provincial initiatives related to the Blue Box program:

• Ontario government is proposing a new plan for the Blue Box program which includes several changes including:  transition the responsibility from municipalities to product and packaging producers, and standardize the types of materials collected. Here's a recent update.
• Canadian government's Zero Plastic Waste initiative.  

Recycling at schools and multi-unit buildings

• Blue box recycling poster for schools
• Recycling Instructions
• Recycling Poster

Electronics

Learn about the recent provincial initiative that takes action on e-waste. 

Green Bin collection

• Green Bin liners flyer
• How to Dispose of your Pet Waste flyer

Learn more about Provincial initiatives related to organics: Food and organics framework

Resources for Landlords and Property Managers

Waste Collection Guidelines

Waste Management Division electronic newsletter

To subscribe to WMD eNews, go to the Region's subscription page.  

The Blue Box Special Edition, May 2022

Spring 2022

Winter reminders February 2022

Winter 2022 - Our 90th edition

Fall 2021

Summer 2021

Spring 2021

Winter 2021

Waste Management Master Plan

We've had Waste Management Master Plans (WMMP) since the 1980's. The basic steps involved in our WMMP process involve:

1. Consulting with local residents to understand their concerns about and ideas for waste management in Waterloo Region.
2. Developing a plan that provides a schedule of new activities to research.
3. Getting approval from Regional Council.
4. Implementing the activity.

Our latest Waste Management Master Plan (WMMP) was approved by Regional Council in November, 2013, after extensive research, and public consultation (including an online survey and public information sessions). We needed a new WMMP given the majority of the original 1986 WMMP had been implemented.

Our WMMP provides a guideline on:

• New ways to divert (reduce, reuse and recycle) waste from our one-and-only landfill, and
• A long-term, sustainable option for dealing with garbage after our landfill closes. Note:  We adopted a waste hierarchy that includes “recovery” and considers recovery of energy and resources above landfilling.

The priorities and options in this master plan still require individual, detailed plans, budgets and approval by Regional Council.

To date, we have made good progress on our WMMP:

1. March, 2017:  We implemented curbside collection policy changes to increase waste diversion including garbage bag/can limits, bi-weekly garbage collection, standardized Regional residential waste collection in all seven area municipalities, and a “user pay” program (garbage tags). Also, we combined our waste by-laws to create one waste by-law.
2. June, 2018:  Recycling programs for drywall and wooden pallet started at our waste management sites.
3. We have started investigating thermal technology options for residual garbage, established an inter-municipal working group to explore potential partnership opportunities, and continue to pursue opportunities with the Water Services Division to maximize synergies for processing and disposal of residual waste and biosolids.

Future plans include:

• Investigate waste diversion options for multi-unit buildings (expected between 2019 to 2022)
• Modifying depot drop-offs (design work is underway for our Waterloo site)

Reports and documents

• Final Master Plan report which includes the Waste Reduction and Diversion Study. 
• Reports to Planning and Works Committee and Regional Council:  
  • E13-127 Waste Management Master Plan:  Final Study Report to Planning and Works Committee November 12, 2013, approved by Regional Council on November 20, 2013.
  • TES-WMS-15-01  Waste Management Master Plan Implementation Update, February 3, 2015 
  • TES-WMS-16-05: Waste Management Master Plan Update, Completion of Thermal Treatment and Energy Recovery for Residual Waste Management Feasibility Study (Consultant Presentation), June 14, 2016.
  • Copies of these agendas and minutes of Committee and Council meetings can be found online.

Videos and virtual tour

Fly over the Waterloo landfill

Garbage bag tags

Garbage doesn't just disappear

Garbage doesn't just disappear (short video)

Green bin and yard waste composting processes

Green bin organics become compost

How to deal with disposable diapers

Introduction to curbside collection services

Introduction to our blue box curbside collection

Landfill cell construction timelapse video

Landfill cell explainer

Leaf collection in Waterloo Region

Mighty machines of the landfill

Mommy Blog: The green bin

Reflecting on the blue box: A tribute video

Visit our transfer stations

What happens to your garbage

What happens to your recycling

Our award-winning virtual tour will take you behind the scenes in our Nyle Ludolph Materials Recycling Centre and landfill area at our Waterloo site. Move your cursor right, left and all the way around for an in-depth view of the different areas. To really bring the video alive, watch it with virtual-reality goggles.

During the video tour, you will see symbols:

When you click on the camera icon, it will take you to a photo with a written description.

When you click on this icon, a video will play. (Update! We have added a new video about green bin and yard waste organics.)

Please note: There are many viewing points inside the Nyle Ludolph Materials Recycling Centre. Below is a map to help you navigate them. 

The tour also includes quick stops at our main scales, transfer station, and administration building.