The waste management department is managed by the Public Works manager. Waste management is all about the following service/functions and a description of how McDougall delivers these is attached to each:
1) Reduction of Waste - McDougall reduces waste as follows, all municipalities (including McDougall) that use the McDougall landfill site must operate a recycling program that diverts the standard blue box program items. This includes glass, cardboard, newspapers, and certain plastics. In addition to these, each municipality also operates diversion programs for all metals, white goods (fridges, stoves, freezers), tires, hazardous materials and wood. If the above programs operate properly, the only material that is being landfilled is standard non-hazardous residential and commercial waste. An official blue box is not needed to participate in recycling, any type of storage container can be used to help you collect and transport your recycled goods. If you would like a blue box, they are available for purchase at local hardware stores.
2) Collection - McDougall does not operate a curbside pickup program. Residents of McDougall, provided they have a sticker on their vehicle windshield, can take their waste to the municipal transfer station or to the McDougall landfill site. Non-residents of McDougall can not access either of these facilities. The transfer station and landfill facilities are fully staffed to help you with how and where to dispose of waste, encourage recycling, provide information and reject any materials that are not acceptable. For more information see Facility locations and operating hours.
Any hazardous waste is to be disposed of at the Hazardous Waste Depot, located on MacFarlane Street in Parry Sound. Opening times for the depot can be found on the Facilities and Hours page. The depot is open from mid April to mid October every year. Please see the list of accepted hazardous waste.
3) Separation of Waste - At the transfer station and landfill, bins are provided to separate waste into two waste streams, household material going to the landfill and material for diversion. Large items (ie. metal, couches, boats, fridges, stoves, etc.) are not accepted at the transfer station; you must take them directly to the McDougall landfill site. At the landfill site there are separate dumping areas for metal, white goods, wood and tires. Upon arrival at the sites, please follow the signage to the areas for the material you are discarding.
4) Storage - The transfer station acts as an interim storage facility for waste to make it more efficient, effective and convenient for our residents prior to shipping the waste to its final disposal location. At the landfill site, the separate dumping areas are also utilized as temporary storage prior to final disposal. For our residents, we want to remind you to store your waste in animal-proof containers.
5) Transportation - The transportation of waste from the residents or business to a municipal facility is the responsibility of the property owner. With the proper sticker, Residents and small businesses of McDougall that use their own personal vehicle or small trailers have free access to the facilities. When waste is transported in a commercial vehicle or by garbage bin from a commercial hauler, it is subject to tipping fees.
6) Processing, Treatment & Other Disposal - Household waste is processed at the landfill on a daily basis. It is landfilled into a fully engineered cell, compacted and daily cover (soil wood chips) is applied to prevent the wind from blowing the material. One by-product of household landfilling is leachate, which is extracted from the landfill and will be processed in a new, on-site leachate processing plant. Blue box recycled products are sent to a private district recycling plant. Wood waste is chipped on-site and used as daily cover or as on-site road construction. Scrap metal, white goods and tires are picked up by the applicable recycling contractors.
