The Engineering & Operations Department is responsible for the collection and disposal of residential solid waste, which includes garbage and yard trimmings (April - October only).
Garbage Collection
Bowen Island Municipality has a contract with Bowen Waste Services (604-947-2255) to provide weekly residential garbage pickup on Bowen Island. Private businesses with waste volumes in excess of that which can fit into one garbage can are served by private contract. All garbage collected is transported to the Greater Vancouver Regional District's North Shore Transfer Station.
The Municipal collection system transfers approximately 700,000 kg of garbage and 250,000 of recycling annually from Bowen Island to the lower mainland.
The Municipality provides for free drop off waste service on special Spring and Fall Clean up days and also Hazardous Waste days. These are scheduled by our contractor and advertised in advance. Certain limits apply.
Schedule
Garbage pickup for Bowen Island is on Mondays and Tuesdays. Generally, the east side of the Island is picked up on Monday and the west side is picked up on Tuesday. If you are not sure which day your garbage is picked-up call Bowen Waste Services at 604-947-2255. All garbage cans or bags must be accessible to the garbage collector by 8:00 a.m. on refuse collection day. Statutory holidays will delay collection days for that week by one day.
Limits
Weekly collection is limited to one 70 litre can weighting a maximum of 22 kg (70 lbs). Therefore if you decide to buy larger cans, be aware that if you fill them to capacity they may not be emptied.
Banned Materials
As of January 1, 2008 all of the following items will be banned from the garbage:
-
corrogated cardboard
-
newsprint
-
office paper
-
electronic waste (including personal computers, printers and TVs)
-
refundable veverage containers (excluding milk cartons)
-
rycyclables, including glass, metal & plastic
-
yard and garden waste
-
gypsum drywall
-
Product Stewardship (Take Back) Program materials including:
-
paint, solvent, flammable liquids, gasoline & pesticides
-
oil, oil filters & empty containers
-
medications, pharmaceuticals
-
lead-acid (car) batteries
-
tires
Fees
Garbage Collection is fully funded from user rates. Garbage decals represent the "user fee" portion of the total funding for Solid Waste Services provided by the Municipality with the balance of funding collected as an Island wide parcel tax levied on property owners and is the model we inherited at Incorporation. While a "user fee" component is not necessarily required there are at least two objectives built into the model:
-
It acknowledges that a heavier burden of the cost of the services should be placed on the User (and not necessarily the property owner).
-
It is intended to encourage Users of the service to limit waste to one can per week per house hold, to assist in achieving the overall goal of reducing waste ending up in landfills.
Garbage decals (valid from July 1st to June 30th of the following year) must be purchased from Bowen Island Municipality for weekly pickup of your garbage. The Decal should be adhered to the side of your garbage can, clearly visible. The cost of the decal is valid for one garbage can per household. The following decals can be purchased at Municipal Hall during regular business hours:
| 2010 Annual rate for first receptacle tag |
$79.00 |
| 2010 Annual rate for each additional receptacle |
$119.00 |
| 2010 Rate for partial year tag - January to June |
$44.00 |
| 2010 Rate for partial year tag - July to December |
$46.00 |
| 2010 Supplementary waste tag |
$6.00 |
Yard Trimmings
Yard trimmings are collected separately for the whole Island on Wednesdays from April through October (total of 30 weeks) in reuseable containers, brown paper ('Kraft') bags, or bundles and transported to the GVRD's North Shore Transfer Station for composting.
In order to reduce waste associated with curb side pickup of yard trimmings the Municipality has phased out the use of plastic bags by residents.
Homeowners are given yard trimmings decals when purchasing regular garbage can decals. Residents are encouraged to use rigid containers by purchasing a maximum 77L plastic 'garbage can' for designated use, and attaching a "Yard Trimmings" decal. These decals will not expire as do the garbage decals; they are for identification only.
Residents should continue to tie sticks in bundles for pickup, and not place them in the "Yard Trimmings" container.
Residents are also encouraged to compost their yard waste on their properties for garden reuse, instead of using curb side collection.
For more information please contact the Public Works Department at 604-947-4255.
