The future of Greater Sudbury tipping fee holidays remains up in the air, with the operations committee of city council deferring a decision to early in the new year.
This marks city council members’ second deferral, following an August deferral in which they sought additional options.
In Ward 4 Coun. Pauline Fortin’s latest deferral during Monday’s meeting, staff were requested to draft even more options beyond the four presented, including their projected costs.
Among these extra options is limiting the landfill tipping fee holiday to one trip per resident, with a 100-kg limit. There’s presently no weight limit if waste is delivered in a private motor vehicle (and an additional application process for commercial vehicle rentals).
“I think this is a possibility that could work, and that at the same time, you wouldn’t have people going multiple times,” she said, adding that this would help lower municipal costs and wait times during the free landfill week.
If the city were to proceed with mailing out tickets for residents to access the city’s landfill sites free of charge, Fortin said it could also serve as an opportunity to mail out educational material.
“If we do the tickets and we’re sending those out, it could be a good time to talk about the diversion programs we have … and how to use the green cart and so on,” she said.
At Monday’s operations committee meeting of city council, members faced four options for landfill tipping fee holidays.
The option Solid Waste Support Services acting manager Robyn White recommended in her report was the continuation of a once-per-year weeklong spring tipping fee holiday.
The city shifted from two weeklong tipping fee holidays to one in 2024, when they cancelled the autumn holiday as a two-year pilot project, which White recommends council make permanent.
This option, White wrote in her report to city council members, “offers the best balance of service, cost-efficiency, and operational effectiveness. … It maintains the spring tipping fee holiday for residents while reducing congestion throughout the remainder of the year, supporting waste diversion goals, and generating ongoing revenue.”
A spring weeklong tipping fee holiday carries a projected revenue loss of $280,889 in 2026 and an expense of $16,752.
Option No. 2 is to maintain both spring and autumn residential tipping fee holidays at a projected 2026 revenue loss of $477,791, plus an expense of $33,504.
Option No. 3 was initially suggested by Ward 3 Coun. Michel Brabant, and would cancel both the spring and autumn weeklong tipping fee holidays and let residents decide when they take a free trip to the landfill. This carries a projected revenue loss of $875,000 in 2026, plus an expense of $63,300.
Option No. 4 would allow for two free landfill trips per year, which carries a projected revenue loss of $1.27 million in 2026 alongside a cost of $101,960.
In Sudbury.com’s online poll, the most expensive option was also the most popular; allowing two free landfill trips per household per year (84 votes, 41.58 per cent).
This was followed by:
- Bring back both spring and autumn tipping fee holidays (74 votes; 36.63 per cent)
- Cancel all tipping fee holidays and maintain regular fees year-round (17 votes; 8.42 per cent)
- Allow one free landfill trip per household per year, at any time (15 votes; 7.43 per cent)
- Keep only the spring tipping fee holiday (staff recommendation): (12 votes; 5.94 per cent)
The weeklong spring tipping fee holiday saw 9,234 free residential landfill site visits take place earlier this year, dumping 1,790 tonnes of waste.
Since there’s no urgency in making a decision, meeting chair and Ward 1 Coun. Mark Signoretti said, there’s no harm in deferring a decision, with more options available, to early in the new year.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.