Vancouver’s Zero Waste Centre = No Excuses

We recently stopped by Vancouver’s new Zero Waste Centre located in SE Vancouver at 8588 Yukon Street just off Marine Drive near Cambie. This facility takes a long list of recyclable items for free. It’s well organized with lots of signage as well as attendants to point you in the right direction or answer any questions. We had been carrying around some used LED light bulbs we had hoped to recycle, which it turned out the Zero Waste Centre did not take, but with lightening speed the attendant pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket with a map and address of the South Van Bottle Depot two blocks over which did take the bulbs. So if the Zero Waste Centre doesn’t take something, we’d venture a guess they would be able to tell you who would take it.  Generally speaking it’s handy to have a vehicle to attend at this location if you have a number of larger items, but if you have a few small items that you can carry, this location is not far from the Cambie and Marine Skytrain Station and bus loop. As big fans of recycling and repurposing, we are pleased to see this new addition to the City’s Waste Management Services. Check out below the long list of items, they do take at the Zero Waste facility:

Materials accepted for free recycling

​Bicycles and accessories
​Books
​Cardboard (flattened)
Cell phones
​Clothing and textiles
​Cooking oil (maximum 10L per day per resident)
​Electronics
​Fire extinguishers (maximum 2 per day per resident)
​Foam packaging (no foam peanuts)
​Glass bottles and jars
Household batteries
​Large appliances (refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, maximum 3)
​Lead acid car and truck batteries
​Metal containers (cans, tins, foil, empty aerosol cans excluding spray paint cans)
​Paper containers (tetra-packs, coffee cups)
​Plastic bags and overwrap (not Ziploc bags though)
​Plastic containers (jars, jugs, bottles)
​Power tools
​Printed paper and paper packaging (newspaper, magazines, catalogues, writing paper, paper bags)
​Propane tanks (maximum 4 disposable and 2 refillable)
​Scrap metal
​Small appliances
​Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
​Thermostats

There are a number of items that are NOT accepted which include:

Antifreeze and empty antifreeze containers
Broken televisions and computer monitors
Flammable liquids
Fluorescent light bulbs and tubes
Medications
Paint and empty paint cans
Pesticides
Tires
Used oil, oil filters, and empty oil containers

If you wish to know what to do with the items, they don’t accept, check out the City’s Waste Wizard.

Tags: Free Recycling, Recycling, SE Vancouver, Vancouver, Zero Waste, Zero Waste Centre