Heavy Item Garbage

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Heavy Item Garbage (HIG) collection offers residents the opportunity to dispose of large residential waste. 

Occurring the 3rd week of April and September, HIG is a service provided in conjunction with your curbside waste collection service. If you pay the residential garbage charge on your Town of Strathmore utility bill the HIG service is available to you.

For current collection dates visit Waste Collection Services, Important Dates.

Get the most out of HIG Collection
DO DON'T
  • Affix items with a HIG tag. 
  • Place items out for collection by 7:00 am Monday the week of HIG collection.
  • Place item so the tag is visible from the road or alley.
  • Place items at least 1m (3.3ft) away from objects to the rear or side and 3m (9.8ft) from above.
  • Leave more than 5 items per collection for pickup. 
  • Nestle HIG items between objects such as carts and vehicles. 
  • Obstruct the street, sidewalk, or alley.
  • Place items heavier than 70kg (154lbs).
  • Place items longer than 1/24m/4ft, excluding furniture.
HIG Tags 
All HIG items must be tagged as the tags let our waste services operators know what can be collected and disposed of.
Tags are available at the Municipal Building, 1 Parklane Drive and at the Municipal Library, 85 Lakeside Blvd, starting in August 2024. 
There is no fee associated with the tags.
Households are limited to 5 items per collection.

    

HIG tags will NOT be given out the week of HIG Pickup.
Important Information on HIG;
Examples of heavy item garbage

This list can be changed at the discretion of the Town.

  • sofas and couches
  • tables and chairs
  • mattress and box springs
  • dressers
  • bed frames
  • stoves
  • dishwashers
  • washers and dryers
  • BBQs
  • lawn mowers, all fluids drained
  • refrigerator, freezer and water coolers, without Freon and tagged Freon Free (doors opened/removed)
  • maximum 2 small bundles of lumber of 4 feet in length and secured
What is not heavy item garbage?

This list can be changed at the discretion of the Town.

  • electronics - tv's, computers, monitors, laptops, printers, fax machines, players
  • vehicle tires and car parts in general
  • propane and air compressors tanks
  • tree stumps, rocks and concrete
  • glass windows or mirrors
  • toilets, bathtubs, and vanities
  • air conditioners and dehumidifiers
  • hot water heaters and furnaces
  • building, construction and demolition waste
  • recyclable, organic and residential waste
  • residential hazardous waste including paints, oils and cleaning supplies
  • Items longer than 1.24m/4ft, excluding furniture
Heavy Item Garbage - Mattresses

"Close to 20 million mattresses end up in landfills each year, and just one mattress can take up to 40 cubic feet in a landfill. Up to 90 percent of your mattress can be broken down and recycled, so recycling is definitely a better option for the environment than tossing your mattress in the dumpster." (Consumer Affairs, April 2021)

Through our waste services collection, The Town of Strathmore recycles collected mattresses. Each mattress is torn apart and separated into what is recyclable and what is not, I.E., wood frames, steel springs, polyurethane foam, and the outer foam.

Outside of HIG collection week, mattresses can be disposed of at a local landfill or work with the retailer for disposal.

Consider the condition of the mattress before disposing of it. A relatively new and still in good shape mattress can be sold, donated, or repurposed.
Trash to Treasure 
Trash to Treasure Days encourages residents to put any usable items out prior to the Heavy Item Garbage collection, so others can pick it up and give it a new home. This is a great opportunity to give unwanted items a new life while keeping them out of landfills!

DO DON'T
  • Place your HIG marked, unwanted but reusable, items at the same location you would place items for HIG collection.
  • At the end of the Trash to Treasure Days remove any items you want to keep, leave others for HIG collection.
  • Take items not marked with a HIG tag.
  • Disrespect others property.
  • Discard unwanted items on another resident’s property.
Residents are encouraged to use the Recycle Facility and the Take It or Leave It program located at 103 Huxted Way to minimize recyclable materials from entering the landfills.

 

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