The District of Summerland is changing curbside collection for residential homes:
- Food Scraps and food soiled paper can now be placed with yard waste (green cart).
- Starting the week of April 2, Yard Waste and Food Scraps carts (green cart) will be collected every week.
- Starting the week of April 2, Garbage collection (grey cart) will happen every two weeks. See below for options for additional garbage needs.
- No changes to the Recycling cart collection program (blue cart).
Why are these changes happening?
The District of Summerland operates it's own landfill. Summerland is looking to reduce garbage as landfilling is much more expensive as compared to composting and recycling. About 70 percent of waste collected could be composted or recycled. Food scraps can be processed into a quality compost material which will be made available for purchase to residents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Click here for a list of frequently asked questions. For more information please e-mail works@summerland.ca or call Summerland Works Office at 250-494-0431.
Curbside Calendar link
How Program Works: Videos
Food Scraps with Yard Waste Program Overview
Residential homes with District of Summerland cart collection can now place food scraps and food soiled paper products in their Yard Waste cart (green cart) with their yard waste.
What goes in the Green Cart?
Food scraps:
- All food scraps( including meat, grains and dairy)
- Prepared food (leftovers)
- Shells (egg shells, seafood shells)
- Bones
- Small amounts of fat, oil, and grease
Compostable food-soiled paper-products that are not recyclable. Examples include:
- Food-soiled paper napkins and paper towels (NO toilet paper or tissues please)
- Food-soiled newsprint (used to line a kitchen catcher)
- Paper bags designed for food scraps
- Paper towel
- Coffee grounds and filters,
- Paper tea bags (rip tea bag to see if paper, plastic tea bags can be emptied and placed in garbage)
- Paper plates
- Wooden chopsticks, skewers, popsicle sticks
Yard waste:
- Leaves and grass
- Pine needles and pine cones
- Prunings
- Branches less than 5 cm (2 inches) around and less than 1 m (3 feet) long
What DOES NOT go in the Green Cart?
NO Plastic and plastic-lined products. Even "biodegradable" or "compostable" plastics are not accepted. They will not break down properly during processing and will contaminate the finished compost.
NO Cardboard (please recycle cardboard including pizza boxes)
NO Butter wrappers
NO Tissues or toilet paper containing hazardous materials / human waste
NO Coffee cups. They are lined with plastic.
NO Cotton swabs, cotton balls or make-up remover pads
NO Cork
NO Dirty diapers
NO Face masks
NO Parchment paper (won't break down properly)
NO Pet food bags and other lined bags
NO Pet waste or kitty litter
NO Personal hygiene items
NO Plastic wrap
NO Produce stickers (PLU stickers), even those marked “biodegradable” or “compostable”
NO Soil, sod, rocks
NO Vacuum contents and bags
NO Wipes (e.g. baby wipes, make-up remover wipes, even those marked “biodegradable” or “compostable” as they will not break down in compost process)
Garbage Collection Changes
Starting the week of April 2, 2024, District of Summerland garbage carts will be collected every other week . Garbage collection will alternate every two weeks with recycling collection remaining unchanged.
Additional Garbage Collection Options
Residents that require more assistance with garbage collection can:
- Switch to a larger garbage cart. There is a one time delivery fee and additional monthly charge for more garbage. For more information on cart change outs, click the following link: cart change outs.
- Purchase 'tag-a-bag' stickers from Municipal Hall for $2.50 each. Place one sticker on a garbage bag with the sticker clearly visible. The garbage bag must be less than 120 litres in size and weigh less than 25 kg (55 pounds). Put the garbage bag with the tag-a-bag sticker beside your garbage cart on your scheduled day of garbage collection.