Heavy Item Garbage | Town of Strathmore

Heavy Item Garbage Collection

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.

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.

Get the most out of HIG Collection

Things to do	Don't do this!
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.

Heavy Item Garbage FAQs

HIG Tags Information

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 2025.

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.

Examples of heavy item garbage

The following list are examples of what you can put out to the curb with an HIG tag. Please note, 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

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.

What is not heavy item garbage?

The following list are things that do not count as heavy item garbage. Please note, 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

Trash to Treasure Days

Give your used items a new home!

Trash to Treasure Days

Heavy Item Garbage (HIG) and Trash to Treasure Collection Schedule

HIG collection occurs the 3rd week of April and September and Trash to treasure starts the week before HIG.

2026 Dates:

Trash to Treasure	HIG
April 9 to 12	April 13 to 17
September 10 to 13	September 14 to 18