Curbside Collection Changes Coming in Spring 2021

To manage your excess cardboard we would encourage you to either drop your excess cardboard off at a recycling depot or rip it into smaller pieces and place in your green cart.  The cardboard will fully break down in the composting process and is a great source of carbon for the compost.  

The City’s own curbside participation studies and disposal data show that the 240 L cart size will meet the waste needs of most households in the curbside program. Data was recorded at the curb over the past two years, and this was used to determine what cart size to go with.  We also did extensive research with other municipalities who have adopted a similar cart-based program and their experience shows that the 240 L carts are large enough for the majority of households for all three waste streams, even with providing collection every two weeks.  It is great to hear that your household is recycling more than the average home!  If you find you need a bigger recycling cart, you can request a 360L recycling cart starting July 19, 2021.  Your annual solid waste user fee will also not be impacted by requesting a larger recycling cart.

Hi there!  Unfortunately, it is not possible to opt out of the curbside collection service if you live in a single family home or duplex in Abbotsford.  You may be interested to know that the City has a waste sorting tool called the Waste Wizard that can be accessed both online (www.abbotsford.ca/wastewizard) or by downloading the Abbotsford Curbside Collection App.  You can search an item and it will tell you what cart it can go in, or whether it needs to be dropped off for safe recycling or disposal.  What is accepted in each cart is mandated by the provincial Recycling Regulation and we anticipate changes to be continuously implemented as regulations are updated.  For example, both the provincial and federal governments are proposing changes to waste management that could impact what goes in to each cart.  The Waste Wizard tool will always have the most up to date waste sorting information available, and also takes the guess work out of trying to figure out what goes where or keeping up with changes.    

This is a great question!  Please reach out to our Cart Coordinator for address specific cart placement information.  His name is JT Suman and he can be contacted by emailing carts@abbotsford.ca.  He will be able to discuss options with Waste Connections Canada, who is the contractor providing curbside collection services to homes on the east side of Abbotsford on behalf of the City.

Great question!  The City is providing a temporary special yard waste collection to all properties on a bi-weekly basis.  Up to 10 containers, paper yard waste bags, or bundles can be put at the curb on the same day as your blue recycling cart.  This service is being provided between April 19 and July 16 to help residents figure out what size of green compost cart will work best for their property.  If you find you are regularly putting out extra yard waste, you may want to consider requesting a larger compost cart (360L) and/or adding a second compost cart (240L or 360L).  Please note your annual solid waste user fee (paid on property taxes) will be impacted by larger and/or second compost carts.  You can request a larger or second compost cart beginning July 19, 2021.  Visit www.abbotsford.ca/carts for more info on the costs.  We will be sharing info on the exchange process in the coming weeks.  

Please note that beginning July 19, 2021, all material will need to be contained inside a cart.  We are unable to collect extra bags or bundles starting that date.

Homes with registered secondary suites should have a received one 360L blue recycling cart, one 240L green compost cart and one 240L grey garbage cart.  The recycling cart was the only larger cart that should have been provided.  If you did not receive the 360L recycling cart, please call 604-864-5640 or email carts@abbotsford.ca.  Please note the 360L cart is slightly more rectangular in size so you will need to line up your carts to compare if they are the same size.  All carts are similar in height.

Great question, yes they do!   If you have a collection day scheduled on Thursday or Friday this week (April 15 or 16) please place compostables in a 80L curbside container that is labelled with a green compostable waste sticker.  Please place food waste and yard waste in the green compost cart beginning April 19, 2021.  More information on what goes where can be found on our website at www.abbotsford.ca/waste.  

The 240L carts will hold 3-4 garbage bags of material, which is the same amount as what is accepted in the current manual curbside collection program.  If you find your household generates more than the average amount of garbage, you will be able to request a larger 360L garbage cart beginning July 19th.  We do not yet have any of the larger garbage carts in stock so are not able to offer these to residents until July.  In between cart collection days you could consider storing excess garbage until your next schedule garbage collection day, or taking it to one of the local transfer stations for disposal (please note disposal fees will apply).  You could also consider reviewing the waste your household generates to send as much as possible to recycling and compost which will help minimize the amount of waste going into your garbage cart.    

All existing curbside containers should continue to be used until the automated collection program starts on April 19, 2021. Once the new program begins, there are a number of creative and environmentally friendly ways to repurpose the old containers and keep them out of the landfill:

• Repurpose as a rain barrel or backyard composter;
• Use for extra storage of yard waste, tools, animal feed, potting soil or mulch;
• Collect your recycling depot items for efficient drop off (e.g. film plastics, glass, electronics, refundable beverage containers, etc.);
• Construct a planter for root vegetables (e.g. carrots, potatoes, etc.); or
• Create a pet waste composter.

We are currently looking into options for the collection and recycling of used containers. Please check back after July 19th for more information.  Otherwise, these containers should be dropped off at one of the local transfer stations for disposal.  Please note that applicable disposal costs apply.

Great question!  Yes, black garbage bags (or any other bag) can continue to be used for garbage placed in your grey garbage cart.  This will help you keep your cart cleaner.  Loose items or unbagged garbage will also be accepted inside your garbage cart.