Why does concrete need a smaller bin than drywall in Ottawa?

Because a bin of concrete reaches the company's weight terms long before it is full, while light debris such as drywall fills by volume. Ottawa bin companies handle that difference the same way on their own pages: heavy material such as soil, concrete and brick usually needs a small or dedicated bin, or a partly filled one, billed by weight.

Some companies go further. One keeps its regular bins free of concrete, dirt and asphalt and offers a separate small bin for soil, concrete and clean fill; another limits its smallest clean-fill bins to clean fill only, with no regular garbage or wood. Weight limits differ by company, so we do not print one per size.

The pricing models explain why the weight matters to you:

• In the bin-fee-plus-weight model, disposal is billed per tonne, so every tonne of concrete is on the bill.
• In the all-in model, the price includes a set number of tonnes, and anything heavier is billed beyond that.

Published prices from Ottawa bin companies, seen October 2026, follow those two models, and they are not comparable line by line.

Before booking a bin for concrete, ask the company:

• Which bin does it use for concrete, and how much may that bin hold by weight?
• May concrete share a bin with drywall or other debris?
• What is the rate per tonne, and how many tonnes, if any, are included?
• What does an extra day cost?

For context only, the City's Trail Road landfill lists a 2026 rate of $144 per tonne for fill such as asphalt, masonry and concrete without rebar; that is a City landfill rate, not a bin price.

Ask for the weight the quoted bin may hold, in writing, before any concrete goes in.