City Offers Seasonal Excess Yard Waste Drop-off Starting November 1

Fall brings excess yard waste, and the City of Courtenay is once again offering a drop-off option for City residents. Starting November 1 until November 29, City of Courtenay residents can bring their excess yard waste to a seasonal collection point at the end of McKenzie Avenue.

The free yard waste drop-off program is open to Courtenay residents receiving curbside collection through the City who have excess yard waste that does not fit into their curbside collection container. The yard waste drop-off is open Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding statutory holidays, until November 29, 2024.

“At this time of year, some residents have an excess amount of leaves and other yard waste beyond the volumes available through weekly organics collection,” said Chris Thompson, Manager of Public Works Services at the City of Courtenay.

“We’re once again offering a drop-off collection point as another option for City residents who need it.  We had a great response to this service in the spring, residents did a fantastic job keeping their dropped off yard waste clean and free of debris. Once again we’re reminding residents to please screen materials for dog toys, plant pots and tags, or any other debris that could contaminate.“

Accepted materials for drop-off include leaves, grass clippings, flowers, plants and small branches less than 3 inches in diameter. Materials can be either loose or contained in a paper yard waste bag.

Plastic bags, even if they are labelled compostable/biodegradable, are not accepted at the drop-off or in curbside organics carts. Food waste and food-soiled paper are not accepted at the drop-off point and should go in each household’s curbside organics cart.

McKenzie Avenue is located next to the City Operational Services Centre (formerly Public Works) and is accessed from Cumberland Road just west of the train tracks between McPhee and Piercy avenues.

City staff will be monitoring the drop-off point throughout the day. Yard waste collected through the program will be composted. Should a resident require assistance unloading, once on-site, they may call City Operations at 250-338-1525 so a staff member can assist.  

Yard waste volumes fluctuate widely through the year, with spring and fall seeing the highest volumes of yard debris. In previous years, this overwhelmed the collection contractor’s capacity at peak times, resulting in collection delays cascading across each zone.

Residents who regularly need to dispose of larger amounts of yard waste have the option to request an extra organics cart from the City for an additional annual fee. To learn more about this option, email the City’s solid waste team at solidwaste@courtenay.ca

For more information on the seasonal yard waste drop-off pilot project and curbside organics collection, visit www.courtenay.ca/organics

Fast Facts

The new yard waste drop-off pilot project supports our community’s waste diversion goals:

• In the spring of 2024, the excess yard waste drop-off program collected 29,770 kgs of clean, contamination-free yard waste.
• 2,927 tonnes of organics were collected from eligible City of Courtenay households in 2023 through curbside collection.
• 9,860 households in the City of Courtenay are eligible for curbside collection service.