With “minimal” public feedback and reduced congestion, city staff have recommended that the weeklong autumn residential tipping fee holiday should remain a thing of the past.
In a report tabled for the Aug. 11 operations committee meeting of city council, staff recommend that the autumn tipping fee holiday at city landfill sites be permanently eliminated.
The autumn tipping fee holiday was eliminated by city council as a two-year pilot effort during 2024 budget deliberations in December 2023, at which time they also decided that the weeklong spring tipping fee holiday would remain.
Killing the autumn tipping fee holiday is anticipated to boost revenue by approximately $66,000 annually.
The city’s spring tipping fee holiday was first introduced in 2005, and the autumn holiday was added two years later.
During 2024 budget deliberations, Environmental Services director Renée Brownlee told city council members that the program was introduced to help reduce instances of illegal dumping.
Although she said the city didn’t have exact statistics, she clarified, “We know that we are still cleaning it up and that it still does occur,” concluding that the tipping fee holidays haven’t had a “substantial impact.”
This sentiment is reiterated in the report tabled for the Aug. 11 operations committee meeting, which notes, “there is no clear evidence to suggest that it has effectively reduced littering or illegal dumping in the community.”
Between Jan. 1, 2024, and May 30, 2025, the city has received 80 complaints regarding the cancellation of the autumn tipping fee holiday.
“When compared to the historical volume of residential landfill visits during the holiday period, this represents a relatively low level of concern from the public,” according to a report city Solid Waste Support Services acting manager Robyn White tabled for the Aug. 11 meeting.
Included among the arguments in favour of eliminating the city’s autumn tipping fee holiday, White’s report notes:
- Lineups during tipping fee holidays are long, necessitating the use of extra security and traffic control.
- Much of the waste delivered to the landfill during the holiday could have been picked up through the city’s roadside collection programs, including large furniture, appliance and electronics pickup and the purchase of an unlimited number of garbage bag tags for waste exceeding the twice-monthly two-bag limit.
- There were 216 illegal dumping complaints in 2022, 258 in 2023 and 187 in 2024, showing “no indications that the cancellation of the fall 2024 residential tipping fee holiday increased illegal dumping.”
- The city has a graduated tipping fee structure to promote waste diversion, with certain items (cardboard, tires, electronics) not subject to tipping fees when separated, and other items (blue box recyclables) charged at three-times the standard rate when it’s not diverted. During the tipping fee holiday, financial incentives are suspended, “reducing the effectiveness of the city’s diversion strategy.”
During the December 2023 budget meeting, Ward 4 Coun. Pauline Fortin was the lone member to vote against eliminating the autumn tipping fee holiday.
She said at the time that the city’s every-other-week curbside garbage pickup program and the potential for the city to adopt a clear garbage bag mandate (a decision they ended up deferring until the end of 2026.) is already “tough for a lot of people” and that eliminating the autumn tipping fee holiday would be “a big service level change.”
The operations committee of city council is meeting at 9 a.m. on Aug. 11. The meeting can be viewed in-person in council chambers at Tom Davies Square or livestreamed by clicking here. Whatever decision they make will need to be ratified by city council as a whole, and the next city council meeting is scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. on Sept. 9.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.