Administration also obtained information from Metro Vancouver as it is well known to be on the cutting edge of environmental sustainability and boasts a diversion rate of 60%. The City of Vancouver does not offer a bulk collection service and encourages their residents to deal with bulk items in the same fashion as the City of Windsor.

Furthermore, the Township of Langley, B.C. recently underwent an extensive analysis of litter and illegal dumping, and developed a new anti-dumping strategy to reduce the $400,000 a year cleanup cost associated with illegal dumping - this is despite having a bulk pick up service. The recommendation in the strategy was not to increase the bulk pick up service, but rather revise existing regulations so that enforcement officers are not required to catch people in the act of dumping in order to charge them. In other words, camera footage or identifying literature found in the waste would be sufficient to lay a charge. It is unclear if such a regulation would be sustainable in the City of Windsor, and would require further investigation.

Offering a bulk collection service could reduce the amount of illegal dumping of large items. However, as witnessed in other municipalities, it will not eliminate the problem. No matter the level of bulk collection service, illegal dumping still occurs.

The removal of large items referred to by the WFD was not in reference to a service provision but rather that if fewer of these items are placed out (either illegally or as part of a collection service) then fewer fuel sources would be available. The WFD does not suggest that a bulk collection program would solve deliberately set fires.

Furthermore, instead of items being dumped illegally, they will simply be placed legally in alleys or curb side - as will the many items currently being brought to the Public Drop Off or charities. Nonetheless, a bulk collection service would certainly be helpful to residents without transportation, and/or with limited financial or physical abilities. Should Council chose to offer a bulk collection service there are a variety of options. For the sake of simplicity, Administration recommends considering the following options.

Option A (Recommended by Administration)

Continue with the current practice of encouraging residents to re-use, re-sale or bring their item to the Public Drop off facility. This is the recommendation of Administration. This option has been in place for well over 30 years and yet of the alleys surveyed, there were only 121 items illegally dumped. For the past 30 years, illegal dumping in alleys has been essentially the same. While illegal dumping is inconvenient and frustrating, the statistics show overwhelmingly that residents are taking responsibility for their items with no additional cost to taxpayers. Furthermore, charitable organizations such as Goodwill continue to expand locations and services, making donation increasingly easier.

Option B

Offer a curb side collection service for large items (excluding metal, appliances, construction material and household chemical wastes) on a monthly basis. In this option residents would call 311 to request the service and be limited to 2 items (Council may chose any number of items). The reason to limit the number of items is to ensure the collection schedule is maintained. If residents are allowed to put out an unlimited amount of items we could not guarantee an area would get collected on the scheduled day. This service could be performed by Local 82 (in house) or by contracted services. Details of each are described below under the financial section. The service