February 14, 2023 - Engagement activities for Phase 2 of the Curbside Organic Waste Collection Program–Pilot Program–included a series of surveys at the beginning, middle, and end of the pilot program.

The intent of the surveys was to consult with residents on pilot routes; to gather feedback on what worked well and what might need improvement before a community-wide organics program is implemented; and to measure changes in attitudes and behaviours of pilot participants over the duration of the pilot program.

Survey #1 was open September 22 to October 29, 2021 and received 535 responses (a 24% overall response rate); survey #2 was open February 16 to March 14, 2022 and received 733 responses (a 33% overall response rate); and survey #3 was open September 9 to 30, 2022 and received 630 responses (a 28% overall response rate).

Below are some highlights from the Summary Report of Surveys #1 - #3

• A majority of respondents said they support organic waste collection (79% in the first survey and 78% in both the second and third surveys).
• A majority of respondents agreed with the statement “Reducing what goes in the landfill is the right thing to do” (90% in survey #1, 92% on survey #2, and 94% on survey #3).
• A majority of respondents participated regularly. By the end of the pilot program, 86% of respondents were participating regularly, with 72% placing their organics carts at the curb every week, and 14% putting their carts out most weeks. The participation rate for those who regularly used their cart was up from 78% on survey #2 (when 59% placed carts out every week and 19% placed carts out most weeks).
• A majority of home composters who took the surveys support the program. By the end of the pilot program, 93% of home composters placed their organics carts out at least once (up from 88% in survey #2), and 73% of the same group have placed their carts out more than 10 times.
• When asked as home composters what types of organic waste they are placing in their organics carts, a majority of these respondents selected the categories of “food scraps I shouldn’t/can’t compost at home like meat, bones, oils, and cooked foods”; “food-soiled paper that shouldn’t go in recycling, like dirty napkins”, and “yard waste”.
• Food waste diversion increased significantly over the pilot program duration. Prior to the pilot, 6% of respondents stated that they diverted all of their food waste; by the mid-point, this increased to 41%; and by the end, 44% said they were diverting all of their food waste.
• Soiled paper waste diversion also increased. Prior to the pilot, 14% of respondents stated that they diverted most or all of their soiled paper waste; by the mid-point, that number rose to 63%; by the end, the figure was 65%.
• A majority of respondents were not significantly impacted by biweekly garbage collection. 79% of respondents said biweekly garbage had an insignificant/no impact or a moderate impact, up from 77% on survey #2.
• A majority of respondents were not significantly impacted by biweekly recycling collection. 78% of respondents said biweekly recycling had an insignificant/no impact or a moderate impact, up from 73% on survey #2.
• By the end of the pilot program, 76% of respondents said their experience was excellent or good (up from 71% on survey #2). The top reason chosen for that was “I like that I’m not putting as much waste into the garbage”. The other 24% who indicated their experience as fair or poor cited biweekly garbage and recycling and inability to use compostable plastic liners during the pilot program as the top reasons.
  
  

Read the full Summary Report of Surveys #1-#3.