Building a sustainable community
Extending the life of the landfill and powering homes
When you throw something away, you may think it’s gone into the land of waste, never to be seen again. Sometimes it is – but sometimes it takes a lot longer than you think to decompose or break down. Even a newspaper from the '70s is still in tact after being buried in the landfill for 50 years.
The Region supports a healthy environment where communities can thrive. To do this, we manage the impacts of waste on the environment every day and continue to innovate.
In 2023, we began building one of the last four cells at our Waterloo landfill site. A cell is a large hole dug into the ground that holds your waste. It is constructed with an engineered liner to protect the groundwater, surface water, and air we breathe. The following video explains how the cell works.
Meet the team of engineers who led the work on the new cell.
They keep track of how much waste gets deposited over the years and make decisions together on when new cells are needed.
The cell is designed with a special engineered lining to ensure liquids and gases generated by your decomposing waste do not escape. Not only do we trap it — we convert the gas — a greenhouse gas, to renewable energy.
Gas from our Waterloo landfill powers up to six thousand homes a year; and even to this day, with our Cambridge landfill now closed, the gas collected there is still used to help power a steel recycling plant next door!
The space at our landfill is finite. In less than 25 years, it will be full and will need to close. We’re planning for how to extend the life of it even further.
That’s where you come in.
Here’s a look at how far we have come since 2016 when we moved from collecting waste every week to every two weeks.
Curbside collection changes since 2016 172% increase in green bin waste 5% increase in recycling 36% increase in yard waste 26% decrease in garbage
The most recent data (2022) shows 64 per cent of waste generated by residents in Waterloo Region is diverted from the landfill, one of the highest rates in the province.
While residents in Waterloo Region generate about 42 per cent of the waste that gets sent to the landfill; business and industry generate about 58 per cent.
The community is doing its part, and we can all do more.
We have our familiar 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
The Region has added Recover — converting greenhouse gas to renewable energy.
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Recover
Residents can also think about Refuse — which means changing what they buy because the packaging is not recyclable or re-usable.
The next time you’re throwing something away, take a second to ask:
Is this waste?
Is it recyclable?
Should it go in the green bin?
Two seconds of your time can help extend the life of our landfill for generations to come.