Mountain Coun. John-Paul Danko says it's time to reopen the contentious debate to establish biweekly trash collection.

The city's waste collection contract is set to expire in March 2021, and Hamilton waste officials are preparing to issue a request for proposals in August. Danko said incorporating biweekly waste collection should be included in the contract in case council decides to change it. The new contract would start in April 2021.

He said waste officials are looking for a seven-year contract, with two-year and one-year options, so changing the waste collection service for Hamilton won't be done until about 2030.

"I think it is something important for this term of council to at least have a discussion about (biweekly) collection," said Danko. "I know it was pretty contentious the last time. I'm not sure how much appetite there will be to make a change."

But Danko said it's an "important" discussion to have with the city's diversion rate stagnant at about 48 per cent — a far cry from the 65 per cent target Hamilton identified for 2021. Danko said any diversion effort will mean a longer lifespan for the Glanbrook Landfill site and savings of about $63 million by increasing the diversion rate by about five per cent.

"That is a massive amount of money," he said.

Craig Murdoch, director of environmental services, said biweekly waste collection would "fill the trucks up faster" and wouldn't save any money. He said it would be difficult to introduce biweekly waste collection after the contract is settled because the contractor needs to make "significant" investment in waste trucks.

"Somehow we have to compensate them for that," said Murdoch.

Hamilton councillors have already debated the merits of adopting biweekly waste collection several times, ultimately trashing the idea. They most recently dumped it in 2013 in favour of keeping weekly pickup with a one-bag limit.

City staff stated in a 2016 report that biweekly pickup would save at least $1 million and improve the city's waste diversion rate by about 5.7 per cent.

Other municipalities such as Toronto, Ottawa, Halton and Peel have adopted every-second-week trash collection to save money.

A $25,000 survey conducted in 2016 paid for by the city revealed residents were split on biweekly waste collection, with 41 per cent not interested, while about 39 per cent were very interested.

Murdoch acknowledged during a recent waste management advisory committee, that if enough councillors want changes to the waste collection process, the city could reduce the agreement with its provider to five years plus options.

Councillors over the last decade have felt homeowners had endured numerous changes to the waste collection, including the introduction of a one-bag limit, bag tags, and green cart and were fed up with further changes.

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Danko says Hamilton has established four waste streams where residents are now comfortable with the service. It's the perfect opportunity, he said, to revise the service to increase the diversion rate.

"It's time to take the next step," said Danko.