Finances

February 7, 2025 Published by South Alberta Chapter - By Mickey Pendergast

Why Is Waste Disposal So Expensive?

From the Winter 2025 issue of the CCI South Alberta CCI Review

For condo boards and property managers, waste removal expenses are potentially a significant burden on your budget. Sure, you can reduce waste and ask residents to do the same — but compromising the quality of this service isn’t really an option. Finding savings is possible, but first you must understand what goes into the cost.

Waste cost categories

Invoices often don’t detail the price breakdown of waste removal, but most of the process happens away from your properties.

Your bill is most likely composed of four main cost types:

• Container costs
• Collection costs
• Transfer costs
• Landfill costs

Understanding your options among these four categories can go a long way in helping you reduce your bill.

Container costs

Containers are the aspect of waste removal that you’re probably most familiar with, and an area where you have a fair amount of control. Commercial waste containers come in an array of sizes and are typically provided on a monthly rental basis. Pricing is based on the cubic yard sizing of a container and the frequency of pickup....

Knowing what sizes you need at which properties might come with trial and error. Come collection time, the optimized container is the one that is filled to roughly 75%, but not to the brim or overflowing. Excess waste is often subject to overage fees; even just part of a bag or empty box extending beyond the top edge of the bin can trigger overage charges; haulers should have pictures to validate overage charges, but you will have to ask to see them.

Collection costs

Waste collection fees are the most variant depending on your location, container size and numbers, and collection frequency. This could be as little as $30 a week, or as high as $3,000. Figuring out your needs can include some trial and error and industry research.

The kind of waste your property generates, as well as local health codes and resident behaviour within your premises, is going to determine your collection frequency.

Transfer costs

Factored into your waste removal fees are the fuel and other transportation costs of moving your waste to a landfill. Transfer can be arranged in two ways, direct or indirect:

• Direct transfer transports the waste from your premises to a landfill in a single trip.
• Indirect transfer transports waste from your premises to a transfer station, where it’s stored and batched before being shipped to a landfill site.
• Because transfer stations aren’t free to use, indirect transfer is the more expensive option.

Based on your premises’ locations, your transfer method may be out of your control. Locations which are far from landfill sites must rely on transfer stations to dispose of waste, which inevitably increases costs.

Many waste management providers have discounted rates with transfer stations and commercial landfills that are worth investigating.

Landfill costs

Every time waste is disposed of at a landfill a tipping fee is charged. For commercial landfills, these range from $25-150 per ton. As with transfer costs, many commercial waste management providers have preferential rates for customers at landfills.

The hidden costs of commercial waste removal

Even when you’ve accounted for the four main cost categories of your waste removal bill, you may notice that there are some extra, unexpected charges on your bill. Keep these potential fees in mind when budgeting:

• Dismount and push charges, which apply per bin when drivers must get out of their vehicle and push your containers to an unobstructed spot for emptying.
• Key charges, which apply per bin when drivers require a key to open a locked container.
• Enclosure charges, which apply per bin when drivers must remove bins from a fenced enclosure and then replace them when emptied.
• Gate service charges which apply per bin when drivers must open a closed or locked gate or enclosure.
• Long walk charges, which apply per bin when your containers are placed in such a way that the drivers must walk over a specific distance to access them.
• Regulatory charges, which are depending on region, and cover the cost of providers complying with environmental regulations.
• One way to avoid many of these charges is to evaluate the container situation on your premises to optimize the location to make it easier for haulers to collect your waste.

Reduce waste expenses

This information might seem overwhelming. Waste expenses can really add up. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to optimize your services and reduce your expenses.

Start by considering an internal or external audit of your waste removal system. Are your bins being emptied too often, or not often enough? Could you be paying transport fees for a closer station or landfill? Are your containers the right size for your waste output?

And most importantly, monitor your bills every month to ensure your hauler isn’t raising prices more often or by more than the amount permitted in your agreement. This is a very common tactic employed by many haulers, assuming you won’t check or notice.

Ask yourself these questions and pay close attention to your waste removal bills. You might be spending more than you need to.

---

Mickey Pendergast, Strategic-Partner, Schooley Mitchell