WELLINGTON COUNTY – The county has asked for patience from residents experiencing issues with curbside waste collection as it works to resolve the issues.
“While the vast majority of residents have all their materials collected every week, some residents have experienced missed collection of recycling, waste and/or organics,” manager of solid waste services Das Soligo told the Advertiser in an email.
Soligo was responding to an inquiry about the curbside collection issues and the challenges that have caused them.
While he didn’t provide real numbers, he said from 2023 to 2024 there was a 153 per cent increase in calls related to missed collection, adding the challenges for the county’s long-term curbside collection contractor began toward the end of 2024.
That contractor is Mount Forest-based Waste Management Inc. (WM).
The challenges have continued into 2025, with the county posting multiple notices on its Facebook page throughout January notifying residents about late pickups.
The notices have, in turn, prompted some irate comments from residents.
“Last week our green bins in Puslinch never got picked up and now the blue bins. My garbage is piling up and I refuse to pay $10 to dump it,” wrote one resident, alluding to the minimum fee the county started charging at waste transfers stations this year.
“We pay a lot of taxes, a lot of money for these yellow bags, and receive such unreliable service,” another commenter wrote on a Jan. 10 post.
The post was addressed to rural residents of Erin and Wellington North, letting them know uncollected waste would be picked up the following day, but commenters piped in about collection issues in Puslinch, Minto and Guelph/Eramosa.
“The issues have been experienced county-wide,” said Soligo.
He said the issues “are largely due to several main factors,” including winter weather conditions, higher-than-normal waste volumes, and labour shortages.
“Heavy snowfall and poor road conditions slow collection efforts and create unsafe working environments,” Soligo stated.
“Snowbanks can obstruct access to materials, forcing delays and increasing safety risks, especially when collection extends into the evening when visibility is reduced.”
Residents can help by placing waste in a visible and accessible area, he said.
“Collection crews are not permitted to climb snowbanks to retrieve waste,” he added.
He recommended placing materials at the end of a shovelled driveway or in a small, cleared space to ensure they get picked up.
But it’s not just snow that crews are encountering.
Soligo said they are also seeing more waste than usual in certain areas, which can extend collection hours significantly, meaning longer shifts for workers and more fatigue.
And it’s not just the workers feeling the long hours.
“The additional hours on the fleet also lead to increased maintenance and a higher risk of mechanical breakdowns,” Soligo stated.
While weather has been the main cause of recent collection delays in the county, the industry is also seeing ongoing labour shortages, he said.
“These workforce challenges, combined with difficult working conditions, further strain the available labour pool,” he stated.
Asked what is being done to resolve the issues, Soligo said Waste Management has brought in staff and equipment from other regions to help service the county’s curbside collection contract.
“WM has subcontracted the collection of selected materials when they have been short-staffed,” he said. “They are also assessing routes looking to optimize and improve efficiencies.”
While residents are asked to be patient, they are not expected to be silent about the issues.
“If a resident has had their materials not collected by 7pm, they should report that to the county at 519-837-2601 or wasteinfo@wellington.ca, or through the Recycle Coach ‘Report an issue’ feature,” Soligo said.
They should then leave materials out at the roadside or get them back out there by 7am the next day, so Waste Management can come collect them.
If that’s not possible for some reason, the resident will be allowed to bring materials to a county waste transfer station, and the minimum fee will be waived, Soligo said.
