Prohibited Materials
KEEP HAZARDOUS AND PROHIBITED MATERIALS OUT OF THE GARBAGE
The label on the lid of your garbage cart indicates some of the items that are prohibited from garbage. A complete list is shown below.
DO NOT place the following prohibited material into your garbage cart or bag (additional items may be prohibited at the Vancouver South Transfer Station and the Vancouver Landfill):
- NO any material or substance defined as "Hazardous Waste" under the Environmental Management Act of British Columbia
- NO any material which the City Engineer or Medical Health Officer considers hazardous or unsuitable to handle
- NO barrels, pails or other large liquid containers (whether full or empty)
- NO beverage containers with deposits
- NO chemicals, paints or solvents
- NO contaminated soil with levels exceeding those defined by the Urban Park standards by the Contaminated Sites Regulation of the Environmental Management Act
- NO dead animals (excluding household kitchen meat and fish scraps)
- NO desktop and laptop computers, desktop servers and printers (including computer monitors, keyboards, mouse, and cables)
- NO excrement of all forms
- NO explosive substances (e.g. ammunition)
- NO gypsum (drywall board)
- NO inflammable materials
- NO lead-acid batteries
- NO liquid wastes or biosolids
- NO materials hot enough to start combustion (e.g. hot ashes)
- NO medications and pharmaceuticals
- NO pathogenic, radioactive, toxic or biomedical waste
- NO propane tanks
- NO sharps (syringes)
- NO televisions
- NO tires
- NO waste oil, petroleum by-products, oil filters, and empty oil containers
- NO white goods (large appliances)
- NO wire in excess of 1% by weight of the contents of the receptacle
Your garbage cart will NOT be emptied if any of these items are found inside the cart. Similarly, if any prohibited material is found in any garbage bag that has been set out, that bag will not be collected.
The following recyclable items should NOT be placed in your garbage cart. Learn more about the recycling and the yard trimmings programs.
Items |
Where to place item |
Newsprint |
Blue bag or newsprint cart |
Corrugated cardboard (non-waxed), boxboard |
Yellow bag or paper product cart |
Junk mail, envelopes, writing papers, computer paper |
Yellow bag or paper product cart |
Flyers, magazines, catalogues |
Yellow bag or paper product cart |
Paper egg cartons, rolls, bags, gift wraps, and cards |
Yellow bag or paper product cart |
Telephone directories |
Yellow bag or paper product cart |
Aluminum trays and foil |
Blue box or containers cart |
Ferrous and non-ferrous metal cans and tins |
Blue box or containers cart |
Glass bottles and jars |
Blue box or containers cart |
Plastic containers type #1, #2, #4, #5 |
Blue box or containers cart |
Yard Waste |
Yard trimmings cart |
Please see the Prohibited Material Tip Sheet (
PDF, 750KB) to learn how some of the prohibited materials can be properly disposed.
For disposal and recycling options for these and other materials, please call 3-1-1 (or 604.873.7000 from outside Vancouver city limits) or contact the Recycling Council of BC (RCBC) at 604.732.9253.
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