FAQs

The province requires that each Regional District create a Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) to guide recycling and waste management in the region for the next 20-30 years. The CVRD’s most recent SWMP was approved in 2020, with 13 Zero Waste strategies to reduce landfill disposal between now and 2030.

Zero Waste means moving toward a circular economy, where reusable material is recovered or repurposed. A three-stream curbside collection service is one important step towards recovering reusable materials as it will remove organic material from the garbage stream.

Three-stream curbside collection service includes the collection of organics (e.g., food and/or yard waste), recycling and garbage. Three-stream curbside collection is already provided in all four of the CVRD’s member municipalities (collection is provided by those municipalities) and one of the First Nations’ communities (collection is provided by the Nation). Meanwhile, curbside collection services offered to residents living in CVRD Electoral Areas vary widely – everyone has access to curbside recycling but only some have access to curbside garbage and organics collection. 

In 2018 during the engagement process to update the Solid Waste Management Plan, residents indicated that equitable access to three-stream curbside collection was a priority. 

The service will be mandatory for all single-family Electoral Area homes under the CVRD’s curbside collection bylaw. Requiring that all eligible homes receive the same service ensures that costs for the service are evenly distributed throughout the district.  

Spring/summer 2025. We will be releasing more details soon.

 

• Weekly food and yard waste (combined) in 120L rolling tote
• Alternating bi-weekly recycling (240L rolling tote) and garbage collection (120L rolling tote)
• Monthly glass collection (27L bin)

Potentially. We will be altering the existing routes to maximize efficiency. Any changes to your collection day will be communicated via mail well before the service commences in the spring/summer of 2025. 

To get route updates sent directly to your phone or email, subscribe to the Cowichan Recycles app!

- Every week: organics (food and yard waste)

- Every two weeks: regular recycling

- Every two weeks: garbage

- Every month: glass bottles/jars

The three-stream curbside utility fees are anticipated to fall within the range that was consulted on in 2023, $310 - $345 per household. We will be announcing the final cost and other program updates in the coming months.

Not at this time- it takes time to know what works best for your home.

The CVRD will be delivering the standard sets to all eligible homes and will offer an upgrade window after residents have had some time to settle into the service.

New totes will be delivered to eligible homes.

Garbage and organics bins used by independent waste collectors are not compatible with the three-stream program. The CVRD uses automated curbside collection trucks, which require specific totes to fit their mechanical arms. These new organics and/or garbage totes will be delivered in the spring of 2025.

Old waste collection bins can serve many purposes such as:

- Empty refundable beverage container storage

- Flexible plastics and other recycling depot materials storage

- Rainwater collection

- Animal food storage

- Equipment storage

The CVRD is looking into a collection and redistribution program for incompatible totes. Stay tuned!

Per the direction of the CVRD Board of Directors, the service will be fully provided by CVRD staff. 

Independent waste collectors will no longer provide garbage or organics collection to eligible residences once the three-stream program is implemented. 

Please reach out to your independent waste collector for any billing or service transition updates.

The three-stream program is focused on Electoral Area residences that already receive curbside collection. However, Strategy 2 of the Solid Waste Management Plan identifies that reducing disposal rates from multi-family residential homes by requiring separation of garbage, recycling, and organics is a high priority. The CVRD will work with other jurisdictions in the future to make sure that all multi-family residents have access to a service like the three-stream collection program.

Three-stream curbside collection will mean that all residents in single-family dwellings across the CVRD will have the same access to curbside recycling, garbage, and organics collection services. With this service, CVRD Electoral Area residents will, at a minimum, have access to organics, recycling and garbage collection at the curb. Having access to convenient collection is helpful for residents when trying to reduce waste disposal and is especially important for residents with limited access to garbage and organics drop-off facilities.

It is important that everyone has equitable access to three-stream curbside collection.  Providing garbage pickup to all eligible Electoral Area residents will help keep the organics and recycling collection totes free from incompatible materials (e.g., contamination). Reducing contamination decreases waste and helps the CVRD meet contract agreements with organics and recycling processors.

We understand that our community has diverse waste management needs and that some residents compost at home. However, certain organic items (such as meat, fish, poultry, bones and dairy) are unsuitable for backyard composting and must, unfortunately, be disposed of in the garbage. Introducing a curbside organic collection service is an important measure of reducing landfill waste, as 33% of our region's waste contains organic material.

The three-stream curbside service will be implemented based on best practices for wildlife-safe waste management as set out by WildSafeBC. The CVRD has been working closely with WildSafeBC and Provincial Conservation Officers over the past five years to ensure that curbside recycling and garbage, as well as other attractants such as fruit trees, backyard composters, and backyard chickens, are managed in a wild-safe manner. To reduce wildlife conflicts, the CVRD will be collecting curbside organics weekly, and totes will be equipped with mechanics to try to keep wildlife safe. 

It is important to note that there is no such thing as a “bear-proof” tote. A hungry bear will do whatever it takes to reach a desirable meal and no tote has been found to prevent determined wildlife from breaking into it. We have also seen that curbside recyclables can attract wildlife as well, so it is still important that all residents secure attractants to prevent human-wildlife conflicts. 

For more information and tips on wild-safe waste management visit the CVRD's Bear Aware webpage. For even more tips on how to manage attractants visit WildSafeBC's tips for a Wild Safe Yard webpage.