Edmontonians lined up by the hundreds for big bin waste event

It’s been a bit of a late “spring cleaning start” for many Edmontonians.

COVID-19 restrictions put several big bin waste removal events on hold, but now that the province is in Stage 2 of the Open for Summer plan, they are back and in full force.

“We’ve been waiting for about an hour and a half now, been here since 9:30 a.m.,” visitor Mario Lecuyer said.

“Oh I’ve been here for about an hour,” Visitor Belinda Storey said.

Hundreds of vehicles lined the street Saturday for a chance to get into the Castle Downs YMCA parking lot to unload un-wanted household items.

“It’s been very busy. Our first event last weekend at Callingwood, we had over 1,600 vehicles come through on the two days, that’s one of the highest totals we’ve had in a long time,” said Tony Colangelo, City of Edmonton waste drop-off services supervisor.

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Some visitors said the pandemic has led them to a staggering accumulation of large and small items in their home, all set for disposal.

“It was great to be able to come out and clean up the house a bit,” visitor Mario Scrivano said.

“It certainly saves a lot of space in house and in the garage,” visitor Tony Stephen said.

“Instead of having stuff pile up or illegal dumping at some of our recycling depos or multi-unit complexes, it allows them to properly dispose of their items and keep their community clean,” Colangelo said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Instead of having stuff pile up or illegal dumping at some of our recycling depos or multi-unit complexes, it allows them to properly dispose of their items and keep their community clean," Colangelo said.

The city said people can dispose of furniture, appliances, electronics, tires and yard waste at the free two-day weekend events.

‘What they can’t bring is household hazardous waste… as well as any commercial waste. If it comes from a company, it’s not acceptable here at all,” Colangelo said.

Despite large volumes of waste, the city said it is more than prepared to handle the loads.

“We have eight rear-load refuse trucks and about 22, 40-yard roll off bins,” Colangelo said.

The city said it normally holds twelve big bin events a year. Last year because of COVID-19. there were only five.

So far this year two have been held, with six more scheduled. The weekend events are held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. More information can be found online.