The City of Waterloo has plans to expand its dog waste recycling program to four more parks after the pilot program was deemed a success in three of the city's parks.

City staff have installed dog waste recycling containers at McCrae Park, Rolling Hills Park, Chesapeake Park and Old Post Park.

"People feel much better to know that their dog waste is being converted to energy," said Rondha Fetterly, a parks technologist with the City of Waterloo.

Staff also have plans to install a fifth container in the uptown Waterloo area in 2019. Fetterly said parks were chosen where there are a high number of dog owners in the area.

Dog owners can drop in any type of bag into the containers. After two weeks, the waste is then shipped to a bio-digester in Elmira, where it's turned into electricity, heat and nutrient dense fertilizer.

Staff estimate 7.84 tonnes of dog waste has been collected since the program's launch in May 2017. That's enough to power 18 homes.

Fetterly predicts that by this time next year, the city may collect around 20 tonnes of dog poop.

The program was introduced to encourage owners to pick up after their dogs and to keep dog poop from ending up in landfills.

Fetterly said the program has helped reduce the odour in the parks, and it has kept staff from having to empty garbage cans "full of dog waste".

Other dog recycling containers can be found at St. Moritz Park, Lakeshore Optimist Park and the leash-free dog park at Bechtel Park in Waterloo.