Is old carpet and underlay okay in an Ottawa bin?

Carpet and underlay are not on the City of Ottawa's refused list for the Trail Road Landfill, and we found no Ontario regulation that bans them from an ordinary construction bin. For most renovation cleanouts, they go in with the rest of the debris.

A few things affect whether a company will take them without a surcharge. Carpet and underlay are bulky and light, so they take up a lot of space relative to their weight. Companies set their own rules on what they accept, and those rules are not published in a standard form. Ask the company for their refused and surcharged items list in writing before you book.

One practical point: carpet rolls and underlay sheets can be awkward to load level with the top edge of the bin, which is a common company rule. Ask the company whether they want carpet cut into sections or rolled tightly, and confirm the fill-line rule for your bin.

If the carpet is from a home built before the 1990s and you have any reason to think the underlay or the adhesive beneath it may contain asbestos, do not put it in a bin. Asbestos waste cannot go in an ordinary bin under any circumstances, and the City landfill does not accept it. For that situation, the place to start is ottawaabatement.com.

Otherwise, carpet and underlay from a straightforward renovation are the kind of material bin companies in Ottawa handle. Submit a request through the form on this page and companies in the Ottawa Construction Network directory will reply by email with their terms.

Before you confirm the booking, ask the company directly: does carpet and underlay count toward the included tonnes, or does it get billed separately?