2025 Automated Curbside Collection

Automated garbage, recycling and organics collection is coming soon to the City of Duncan. Our current garbage truck is at end of life and will be replaced with a new automated collection truck in the coming months. The new automated truck was ordered in June 2023 and is expected to arrive in early 2025

Please note that collection dates and routes will not change when automated collection is implemented. See the Documents section to the right for a route map and 2025 collection calendar.

About Automated Collection

Manual collection is hard on workers and often causes injury. Protecting the health and safety of employees is an important benefit of automated collection, and has been a driving force in municipalities across Vancouver Island in changing to an automated system.

Automated collection uses mechanical arms to lift and dump bins at the roadside. Residents will be provided with new wheeled carts that the mechanical arms can lift. These new carts come with wheels which will make it easier for residents to bring to the curb than most of the regular bins and containers that are currently being used.

The new automated collection truck will require new garbage (black), recycling (blue), and organics (green) carts that are compatible with the mechanical arms. The carts will be purchased by the City and will be delivered to each residence in advance of the program start up.

Along with the improvements to worker health and safety, there are a number of benefits for residents under this new service including:

• All carts will be provided by the City
• Wheels on the carts will make them easier to move
• Residents will be able to include yard waste in their organics (green) carts for weekly pick-up
• New carts will be larger than the current size limitations

How We Got Here

In June 2022, the City held a public consultation period to obtain resident input on the potential transition from manual to automated curbside collection. Residents were asked to complete a survey that presented the pros and cons of both manual and automated collection. 75% of survey respondents favored transitioning to automated collection.

What You Need to Know

The transition to automated curbside collection will happen sometime in Spring 2025. The exact start date is not yet known, but the City is committed to providing you with lots of information in the lead up to the transition. Watch for updates and subscribe to receive email updates (see subscription box in top right corner).

Have any questions? Please call City Hall at 250-746-6126.