Garbage day usually means a light load at Marvin Miller's house.

The west end resident says his garbage is never as full as his recycling bin. There’s even some weeks he doesn’t put his garbage container out at all.

"It's just me and my wife here so you know we don't have a lot of garbage. We try and recycle as most of the stuff as we can," said Miller

Now, city councillors Janice Lukes and John Orlikow say it's time to change how pickup is done, and how homeowners pay for the service.

"We want to make sure that we as council have an opportunity to re-examine how we're doing delivery,” said Orlikow.

Right now all homeowners pay a $56 annual fee for the 240 l bin service. The councillors suggest Winnipeggers should have the option of getting a smaller bin for garbage, and even biweekly pickup for a lesser charge, more of a volume based pay-as-you-throw approach.

"If people had the option and the incentive to have a smaller bin, maybe at less cost, I believe there would be more incentive to recycle," said Lukes.

But the chance of those changes happening anytime soon are slim. The current deal with Emterra is set to run out in 2017, and offers will soon be accepted for two new contracts for city-wide pick up. Not enough time says Winnipeg's water and waste department, to implement, even study the proposed changes.

That doesn’t mean attempts to improve the service aren’t being considered.

Emterra submitted the lowest bid five years ago, $60 million. Now department officials say the city won't just accept the lowest price for garbage and recycling service, other factors will be given more weight this time around.

"Price is still very important in the process, but it also acknowledges other, their experience in other jurisdictions, their experience of their staff , the experience of their operations,” said Randy Park, the Winnipeg supervisor of waste diversion.

Department officials expect to have the contract submissions in front of council for a vote this September.