Garbage (gray bin)
Household garbage is collected every two weeks from residential units.
Place your household garbage in garbage cans or bags. The garbage bags must be strong and well sealed, and the garbage cans must be waterproof, metal or plastic, with handles and lids. You can also place your garbage in a bin on wheels of up to 360 litres, other than blue or brown.
There is a limit of six household garbage items per collection. A residual materials container is counted as one item, except in the case of 240-litre bins on wheels, which are counted as two items, and 360-litre bins on wheels, which are counted as three items.
Place your garbage next to the curb or the sidewalk after 7 p.m. the day before or by 7 a.m. on collection day, on your driveway or on your property, not on the street, to avoid interfering snow clearing operations.
Collections take place between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. If your garbage has not been collected, make a request. You can make a request between 6 p.m. on the day of your collection and 6 p.m. the following day. If your collection is on a Friday, you have until noon on Saturday to make your request.
The amount of domestic waste will be limited to 120 litres per household. In this regard, every residence with municipal curbside garbage collection has received a gray bin bearing the Ville de Gatineau logo. Those that generate more garbage will be able to buy tagged overflow garbage bags. As of September 15, 2019, only the contents of gray bins and tagged overflow garbage bags will be collected.
Gatineau provided a gray bin on wheels for household garbage to every residential unit with curbside collection. Those bins belong to the municipality, and each one contains a chip connecting it to the address where it was delivered. It is a good idea to start using your gray bin now in order to get used to it. Five bags were provided for free with each new gray bin to help with the transition. Those bags are the only ones admitted for the disposal of garbage exceeding the gray bin volume.
Bins may be stored outdoors in the side yard or backyard at least one metre from the property line. If you live in a townhouse with no side yard, you may store your bin in the front yard.
As of September 15, 2019, residents generating more than the 120-litre of garbage that may contain the gray bin will have to purchase authorized bags, sold for $0.50 each, to dispose of their overflow garbage. A maximum of five 80-litre bags will be allowed per collection, in addition to the gray bin.
The bags can be purchased in packages of five at the service centres, ecocentres and online. They will be available by late summer, with the exact date to be announced shortly.
It is not mandatory to use those bags in the gray bin, but they are the only bags allowed for overflow garbage.
Grey bins have not been delivered yet to buildings with commercial spaces served by curbside collection, because the measures for non-residential units are currently under review. Owners of those units will be contacted shortly. Until further notice, the current bins are to be used for those buildings.
If your gray bin is damaged, broken or stolen, call 311 or make a request. Property owners are responsible for paying the cost of repairing or replacing bins that were broken by the owner, a tenant or an occupant of a dwelling.
Can your item still be used? Before placing it in the gray bin, check whether there may be another option, for instance reuse.
When in doubt, consult DTRITUS to find out how to dispose of your items.
Recognized for its quality of life, Gatineau is a city of 285,000 inhabitants. It is located on the north shore of the Ottawa River, and extends east and west of the Gatineau River.
