Garbage

As of May 2012, North Cowichan's garbage collection service is one 77 litre can per residence every other week. Here are some tips to reduce your garbage in order to comply with this requirement:

  • Recycle at the curbside and use the CVRD depots.  Curbside recycling is unlimited and is collected every other week alternating with garbage.
  • Use your green bin to collect Kitchen Organics, such as food waste and soiled/waxed paper products. Kitchen organics are collected weekly.
  • Compost your kitchen scraps and yard waste in your backyard. You potentially will be able to reduce your garbage by 30%. Do not include compostables with your curbside garbage.
  • Be a smart shopper and avoid buying over-packaged goods.
  • Learn where your garbage goes after it leaves your house through North Cowichan's garbage process.

Up to two additional containers of garbage can be put out on your scheduled garbage collection day by attaching a $3 sticker to each additional container. Garbage stickers are sold at the following locations:

  • Municipal Hall (7030 Trans Canada Highway, Duncan)
  • Cowichan Aquatic Centre (2653 James Street, Duncan)
  • Fuller Lake Arena (2876 Fuller Lake Road, Chemainus)

Can Size Limit

The Municipality of North Cowichan has always had a 20 gallon or 77 litre can size limit. In the past there were generally only two types of cans available--a galvanized steel can and a green plastic can--both of which were 20 gallons and thus there was little need to apply the bylaw.

However, manufacturers started producing ever larger plastic cans presumably in response to the introduction of two can limits set by many municipalities and some designed for mechanical lifting devices. These mechanically lifted garbage containers do not always have handles to allow them to be lifted by hand and often present difficulties in handling.

At first these oversized cans did not present much of a problem, as they were few in number. However, as their number grew the point was reached where they generated more frequent injuries to the garbage collectors due to the container’s awkwardness in handling and greater potential for becoming too heavy.

We believe that by getting the size of the cans to comply with the bylaw will not only reduce the injuries but will also encourage residents to make more use of curbside recycling.