Thunder Bay looks at new ways to manage waste

Send less garbage to the landfill, recycle more, and collect more hazardous waste: these are just some of the goals in a new waste strategy for Thunder Bay.

City council approved the plan Monday night. Councillor Rebecca Johnson said she hopes the plan will get more businesses on board with recycling.

"I would like to see, seriously, that as we need to get cardboard out of the landfill site, that that is going to be part of the strategy that comes out of this."

The plan also calls for getting more homeowners to compost, and reducing waste from businesses. The waste management strategy — which will look at a variety of options from a "toxic taxi" for hazardous waste to ditching blue bags in favour of blue boxes — will cost $100,000 to implement. A request for the funding has been included in next year's budget.