Soil weighs roughly a tonne a cubic yard when it is damp, and sod is worse because it holds water. A 20 yard bin half filled with turf can be over its allowance before anyone thinks to stop, and the overage costs more than a second small bin would have.
So garden work gets a 6, 10 or 14 yard. Branches, hedging and brush are light and bulky, so those can go in a larger bin, but the moment soil, sod or patio stone enters the load the small bin is the cheaper answer.
Stumps are their own problem: heavy, awkward and sometimes refused whole. Cut them down before loading. Hardscape spoil, old patio stone and broken concrete are clean fill rather than yard waste, and the weight limits page shows what each size carries.
6 to 10 ydSoil and sod
14 to 20 ydBrush only
$120 / tOver allowance
How It Runs
Four steps for a garden clearance bin
Tell us the material
Brush and hedging, or soil and sod. The two size very differently.
Small bin, close in
On the driveway near the side gate, so nothing has to be carried far.
Load flat and level
Branches cut down so they lie flat, nothing above the top rail.
Collected and weighed
Scale ticket with the invoice, so you can see where the tonnage went.
Green Waste
Where yard waste actually goes after collection
Clean green waste, branches, leaves, grass and hedging with no soil or rubbish through it, goes for composting rather than to landfill. That is a different facility at a different rate, and it is the reason we ask what is in the load.
Once soil, plastic plant pots, old fencing or general rubbish are mixed through it, the whole load becomes mixed waste. It still gets taken, it just goes somewhere else and is priced as general waste.
Keeping the two separate is worth doing on any real volume of garden work. Recycling and diversion explains where each stream ends up, and landscaping and excavation covers the contractor version of the same job.
A 6 or 10 yard. Soil is about a tonne a cubic yard when damp, so a small bin reaches the allowance quickly and a large one would be an expensive mistake.
Yes. Brush is light and bulky, so it can go in a larger bin. Cut it down so it lies flat and stays under the top rail.
Cut into manageable pieces, yes. A whole stump with the root ball attached is heavy enough to be a problem on its own.
They can, but the whole load is then priced as general waste rather than at the fill rate. On any real volume, two bins costs less.
Fence panels are general waste and fine. Patio stone and broken concrete are clean fill and belong in a separate small bin.
