What will the Ottawa landfill refuse from a renovation bin?

Four categories are refused outright at the City of Ottawa's Trail Waste Facility: asbestos, commercial garbage, liquid waste, and hazardous waste. There is also a permanent ban on Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (IC&I) waste.

A few specific items come with conditions rather than a flat refusal. Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and dehumidifiers must have their cooling chemicals removed and be tagged by a certified technician before arriving at the landfill; untagged units are turned away at the gate. Oil tanks and drums must be cut in half or perforated many times before the City will accept them.

Hazardous waste covers anything corrosive, flammable, or poisonous: aerosol containers, motor oil, paints and coatings, propane cylinders, fertilizers and pesticides, fire extinguishers, and oil filters all fall into this category. Dried paint is the exception; the City says it can go in regular garbage. The City runs household hazardous waste drop-off events and its Waste Explorer tool points to retailer take-back programs for these items.

One item that never goes in an ordinary renovation bin under any circumstances is asbestos. Ontario's Reg. 347 requires asbestos waste to travel in a rigid, impermeable, sealed container to a disposal site whose operator has agreed in advance to accept it, and it cannot share a vehicle with any other cargo. The City landfill does not accept asbestos at all. For asbestos removal and disposal, ottawaabatement.com covers that work.

Beyond the City's rules, bin companies set their own lists of refused and surcharged items. Tires and batteries appear on some companies' refused lists and some charge for mattresses; drywall, shingles and mattresses are not on the City's refusal list. Those are company rules, not City or provincial law. Ask the company for its refused and surcharged items list in writing before you load anything.

Start with the bin company, because its written list of what it will and will not take decides what goes in your bin.