Garbage Room

The following content is here to help all residents understand how to sort and use the garbage room so we can manage and dispose of waste in a cost efficentive and efficent manner.   There are reasons behind all of these rules and we strive to ensure every residents can understand and follow these rules to reduce overhead effort from staff and contractors and overall ensure we manage our waste as a collective.

General Disposal Duties and Bin Etiquette All residents and visitors must sort their waste into specific streams: Garbage, Single Stream Recycling, Cardboard, Glass, and Organics/Compost. If there is ever a difference between the bylaws and the posted signs in the garbage room, the signs take precedence.

• Bagging: All non-recyclable household garbage (including dust and hygiene products) must be securely bagged and tied to prevent odors and pests.

• Bin Use: Bins cannot be overfilled; lids must be able to close completely. If a bin is full, users must wait or use another available bin. Waste must never be left on the floor, on top of bins, or anywhere on the Common Property. Spills must be cleaned immediately.

Trash Compactor Restrictions Users must adhere to the Metro Vancouver Disposal Ban Program. Placing banned materials in the compactor carries a $200.00 fine plus a removal fee, and the Strata Lot Owner is strictly liable for any extra penalties imposed by Minibins or Metro Vancouver. The following are strictly prohibited from the compactor:

• Recyclables: Beverage containers, glass, metal, cardboard, food waste, clean wood, and styrofoam.

• Hazardous Materials: Auto parts, tires, flammables, propane tanks, liquids, sludge, dead animals, paint, and batteries. It also prohibits wire, hosing, or rope longer than 1 meter. These must be taken to an off-site facility at the owner's expense.

• Large Items: Furniture, mattresses, electronics, appliances, and construction/renovation debris.

Organics and Compost Compost non-compliance also carries a $200.00 fine and removal fee.

• Permitted Bags: Food scraps must be in green certified compostable bags or paper bags. Regular plastic and uncertified "biodegradable" bags are banned.

• Accepted Items: Food waste (meat, bones, dairy, fruit), soiled paper (coffee filters, paper towels, greasy pizza boxes), yard trimmings (free of soil/rocks), and small amounts of cooking oil if absorbed by other waste.

• Prohibited Items: Plastics, metal, glass, styrofoam, and animal waste (which must go in the regular garbage compactor instead).

Recycling Streams Failing to separate recyclables properly results in a $200.00 fine plus a removal fee.

• Cardboard: Bins are strictly for clean, completely flattened cardboard. Food-soiled cardboard (like greasy pizza boxes) belongs in the compost.

• Single-Stream Recycling: Items must be loose (not in opaque bags), clean, and dry.

  • Accepted: Paper, household plastic containers (with caps/lids removed), clean metal cans and foil, TetraPaks, paper cups, clean styrofoam, and cardboard mixed with plastic.

  • Prohibited: Standard corrugated cardboard boxes, non-container plastics (toys, laundry baskets, plastic cutlery), broken glass/mirrors, hygiene paper (tissues), and hazardous items like motor oil containers or batteries.

• Refundables: Must be placed in designated receptacles. If the refundable bin is full, they should be placed in the Single-Stream bins.

Large Items and Hard Rubbish Furniture, appliances, and mattresses cannot be left in the garbage room or on Common Property unless it is during a specifically scheduled "Hard Rubbish" collection.

• Fees: Items that attract surcharges, such as mattresses and tires, require the owner to pay a disposal fee.

• Hazardous Exception: Hazardous materials (chemicals, paint, etc.) are never accepted during Hard Rubbish collections and must be disposed of off-site by the owner.

• Outside of scheduled collections, all large items must be disposed of off-site at the owner's expense.

Cost Recovery If any item (garbage, furniture, etc.) is abandoned on Common Property in violation of the bylaws, the Corporation will remove it. The responsible Strata Lot Owner will be charged a disposal fee determined by the Council to cover the removal costs, on top of any standard bylaw fines.