The Southampton landfill is nearing its capacity, but approval for expansion of the site could be approved in a few years.
The Town of Saugeen Shores began carrying out an Environmental Assessment for its landfill optimization expansion in February, after the Terms of Reference were approved by the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.
Consultants said the final report likely wouldn't be ready for submission until the second or third quarter of 2028.
Councillor Bud Halpin said he appreciated all the work staff have done on the file, but he'd like to see the Ontario government help move the process along.
"I'm really glad to see this processing," he said. "But if the provincial government wants to make things work better and improve infrastructure to build houses faster, they need to speed stuff up like this... it's not like we're putting a landfill in a brand new place thats never had one. We're expanding into an area that was always going to be expanded into."
Staff estimated at the end of 2025 that the landfill has 56,000 cubic metres of space for waste left, keeping in line with projections that it will reach capacity sometime between 2030 and 2032.
Larry Gill, Manager of Operations said the town purchased a new landfill compactor over a year ago and its making a big difference.
"That machine is bigger, it was not cheap, but we are seeing compaction that we've never seen before. Actually this year, we're seeing 30 per cent more compaction with that piece of equipment," he told council.
The compactor was included in the 2024 budget for around $1.4 million.
A Public Information Centre on the landfill expansion is likely to be held early next year.
