Residential Waste Going to Landfill

Definition

Waste measures the amount of material that ends up in a landfill. The graphs show the average number of kilograms per person over a year.

Why This Matters

Data on the amount of residential waste going to landfill can help identify increases or decreases in landfill use. These changes could relate to waste diversion, such as recycling, composting and reuse, as well as changes such as overall decreases in total materials produced (e.g., due to such measures as decreased packaging). Diverting waste from landfills has important environmental benefits, including the reduction of greenhouse gases (primarily methane and carbon dioxide) and increasing the conservation of resources through reuse and recycling (Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), 2009). For instance, landfills were the third largest human-related source of methane, a major greenhouse gas, in the United States in 2009 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011).

Waste disposal is an essential public service, as a disruption to this service would very quickly disrupt the well-being of the society. However, it should be noted that researchers have documented various health effects from living near landfills (Vrijheid, 2000). Such concerns suggest that waste diversion options, such as recycling, composting, reusing and careful disposal or recycling of hazardous wastes should be pursued.

Measurement and Limitations

This indicator measures the number of tonnes of residential waste that goes to landfill each year per capita.

Residential waste is defined as garbage generated by both single-family households and multi-family buildings; institutional, commercial, industrial, construction and demolition waste are not included in this measure (FCM, 2009). Residential waste that does not enter landfills and is not diverted is not included either. For instance, garbage which is burned, enters wastewater, or disposed of illegally (e.g., dumped in waterways or natural areas) is not included.

It should be noted that the increase in residential waste going to the landfill in 2020 is in part reflective of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, which saw more people working from and staying at home.

Data Source

The data are provided by the City of Winnipeg Water and Waste Department, compiled on an annual basis and available on their website.

Residential garbage data can be found at: https://myutility.winnipeg.ca/UtilityPortal/RecyclingGarbageYardWaste/sp/garbageTonnageReport

Population data used to calculate per capita figures can be found from: Statistics Canada. Table 17-10-0155-01  Population estimates, July 1, by census subdivision, 2021 boundaries

Data is updated on Peg as it becomes available from the data providers.

References

Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). (2009). Getting to 50% and beyond: Waste diversion success stories from Canadian municipalities. Retrieved from http://fmv.fcm.ca/files/Capacity_Building_-_Waste/WasteDiversion-EN.pdf

Pichtel, J. (2005). Waste management practices: Municipal, hazardous and industrial. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group.

United Nations. (2011). New initiative to aid local governments in managing growing waste problem. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/envdev1212.doc.htm

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2011). Inventory of US greenhouse gas emissions and sinks: 1990-2009. Retrieved from: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/downloads11/US-GHG-Inventory-2011-Complete_Report.pdf

Vrijheid, M. (2000). Health effects of residence near hazardous waste landfill sites: A review of epidemiologic literature. Environmental Health Perspectives, 108, 101-112.