After more than a decade of operating in an amalgamated city managing the needs of more than 500,000 residents, you’d think that Hamilton council and staff would have made some headway on streamlining and improving services. Instead, we ring in 2012 with a debate on the residential waste collection system that is turning out to be the most confusing yet.

For years, we’ve been hearing about Hamilton’s laudable goal of diverting 65 per cent of household waste from the Glanbrook landfill, which is rapidly nearing capacity. Slowly, the city has been moving toward that milestone. And with the strict one-bag policy that went into effect last year, along with an ambitious education campaign, it appeared that while it was taking longer than planned, we were on the right track.

While putting one bag of garbage at the curb seemed too restrictive, most residents rose to the challenge. And while council voted to implement amnesty days to increase the bag limit several times throughout the year to prevent illegal dumping, we agree with Mountain Councillor Brenda Johnson, who argued that the move is a step in the wrong direction. We think a hard look at what is being dumped at the side of the road would indicate that household waste is not the culprit, but large items that must be collected individually. Perhaps some targeted communication on how to dispose of large items and appliances would better address this issue.

With the deadline looming on implementing a new waste collection contract, city staff is warning councillors that further delay could jeopardize the system. But with all of the options once again on the table, including bi-weekly collection of two, three, four, five or six bags, the city once again has a shot at finding a cost-effective system that will help us reach the desired diversion rate and extend the lifespan of the landfill.

We think that our politicians should indeed take the time to “mull things over,” as Dundas councillor Russ Powers put it.

Whatever decision is made now will be locked into a seven-year contract, so we need to get this right.