Garburators could soon be banned in Vancouver for a pricey reason

If you’re planning a new build in Vancouver, you may soon have to say goodbye to in-sink garburators, aka garbage disposals.

Vancouver’s ban on garburators in new residential builds isn’t official just yet, but it’s in motion.

On Wednesday, July 9, Vancouver City Council passed a motion called “A Drain on Resources and Resources Down the Drain: Pulling the plug on In-Sink Garbage Disposal,” banning garburators in all new residential construction, marking a major shift in how the city handles food waste.

The council now is directing staff to get the ball rolling by drafting changes to the Building By-law and related waste regulations.

They’ve also been asked to ramp up public education around composting and to have the Mayor push for a regional approach through Metro Vancouver.

Once staff return with a full by-law proposal, Council will need to vote again to make the ban official.

The unanimous decision, led by Green Party Councillor Pete Fry, comes amid growing concerns about rising wastewater treatment costs and the nasty underground build-up known as “fatbergs.”

“This is an old-fashioned way of getting rid of organic material that is actually costing us, collectively, a lot of money,” Fry told Daily Hive in an interview.

One call, one flood, one idea

The idea began when a constituent reached out to Fry with a messy story: someone in their apartment building had dumped the wrong food scraps into a garbage disposal — fats, veggies, and the works — which clogged the pipes so badly that it caused a flood.

“The damage extended to neighbouring units. Insurance costs went up. It became a strata-wide issue,” Fry said.

That kicked off a deeper look.

Fry discovered that Vancouver had actually considered a ban in 2017, but it fizzled. This time, he said the financial pressure is too big to ignore.

What’s wrong with garburators?

On the surface, they seem harmless. Toss your scraps, flip a switch, and they’re gone.

But these scraps don’t disappear; they head straight into the wastewater system, where they combine with grease to create fatbergs — giant congealed blobs that block sewers and cost Metro Vancouver over $2.7 million a year to remove, according to Fry.

On top of that, the councillor said the organic load from food waste makes wastewater treatment way more expensive.

Unlike toilet paper or bodily waste, which break down naturally, crushed food has to be specially filtered out.

Add in microplastics, methane emissions, and a looming $10 billion wastewater plant upgrade at Iona Island, and you’ve got a costly mix.

So what may change?

Vancouver may:

• Ban garburators in all new residential construction
• Launch a public awareness push to encourage composting instead of grinding
• Call on Metro Vancouver to coordinate a region-wide approach

Fry hopes the ban leads to a wider cultural shift. “It’s about all of us recognizing that convenience isn’t always worth the cost,” he said.

Most Vancouverites aren’t that attached to their garburators anyway, according to Fry.

“It’s a small handful of folks who use them. But every resident pays for the damage,” Fry told Daily Hive.

Fry did not confirm a specific date that the garburator ban will come into effect.

Editor’s note: The headline of this piece has been updated for accuracy. 

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