Green Bin Program: Prepare food scraps and yard waste for collection
If you live in a house or duplex, you can now put all your food scraps, plate scrapings and food-soiled paper in your Green Bin.
Starting spring 2013, your Green Bin and recycling will be emptied every week, and your garbage bin every other week.
If every house and duplex throughout Vancouver recycled food scraps for a whole year, we’d remove 2,800 trucks worth of food scraps from the landfill.
You will receive a kitchen container
Before your collection service changes, the City will provide you with a kitchen container to collect your food scraps. Empty the contents of your kitchen container into your Green Bin.
A new collection calendar will be included inside your kitchen container and is scheduled to arrive approximately two weeks before your service change. If you have questions regarding delivery of your container, call 3-1-1.
Food-soiled paper, including pizza boxes, paper napkins, and paper bags used to collect food scraps
Leaves and grass clippings
Weeds, plants and flowers
Short branches and prunings (less than 10 cm thick, and less than 0.5 m long)
Plastic bags, wrap, or containers
Compostable or biodegradable plastic bags
Rocks, soil, or sod
Animal waste
Diapers
Lumber or other wood products
Branches or prunings bigger than 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and more than 0.5 m (1.6 m) in length
Extra food scraps and yard waste
Your Green Bin must shut completely to be picked up by the City's automated trucks. If you often have items that will not fit in your bin, you have options.
To make sure your garbage gets collected by the City, keep banned items out of your bin and ensure that your bin is not overflowing. Learn more about what can go into your garbage bin, and how to set out your bin correctly.
Not everything can go in to your garbage, recycling, and green bins. Many items can be recycled. Find out how to dispose of items that you do not want anymore.
The composting facility in Richmond can’t process any kind of plastic, even bags marketed “biodegradable" or "compostable" as it degrades the quality of the finished compost.
If there is too much plastic contamination, the truckload of yard trimmings and food scraps might simply go to the landfill.
Keep items that are not accepted out
If the City's collection crew found unacceptable items in your garbage bin or Green Bin, you may find a note to explain why your items were left behind.
Remove the unacceptable items so that your garbage bin or Green Bin can be emptied next time.
Learn how to get the garbage, recycling, and green waste supplies that you need, including stickers for extra garbage. Find out how to get a different size bin for garbage and green waste.
