Fall Clean-up

It’s that time of year: now is your chance to get rid of bulky items that are lying around the house.

But the waste hauler won’t pick up just anything. There are a few things you need to double check before you put your items out for collection.

Follow these guidelines to help ensure everything you drop at the end of your driveway gets picked-up:

1. Nothing can weigh more than 25 kilograms (55 pounds). Remember, sometimes there is only one person picking up your waste, and he or she has to pick it up over their shoulders and throw it in a truck.
2. Your landfill pile can’t be bigger than three cubic meters and your metal pile can’t be bigger than one cubic meter. Please keep these piles separate from you regular household waste: they are picked up by different trucks at different times of the day.
3. All fridges, freezers, ovens and other similar items must have their doors removed. This helps make the item more maneuverable to get on the truck and helps meet weight restrictions.
4. Anything that contains Freon must have it removed. This means fridges, freezers, air conditioners and other similar items must bear the green Nova Scotia Department of Environment refrigerant-free sticker.
5. Break down long items like swing sets or lumber into pieces no longer than 1.8 meters (six feet) to make sure it fits on the truck.

There are also a number of items that the waste hauler cannot collect, such as electronics and engine blocks. For a complete list of clean-up rules and accepted items, click here.

Listen to Angela and Jonathan Talkin’ Trash about fall clean-up on CKBW: