Treated Wood Disposal Ban

As of July 5, 2023, treated wood is banned from disposal at C&D debris disposal cells by the Province of Nova Scotia as specified in the Solid Waste Resource Management Regulations.

For the 1st year, C&D debris facility operators will be providing education to residents and commercial haulers on why treated wood has been banned. Enforcement of the disposal ban will commence on July 5th, 2024.

Treated wood has been banned from disposal at C&D sites by the Province of Nova Scotia to help prevent contamination of groundwater and surface water, because:

• Disposal cells can have large volumes of treated wood. A typical deck on a home requires about 1 tonne of treated wood, while a disposal facility can receive 100s of tonnes of treated wood each year.
• Over time, as treated wood decays, the chemicals that are used to preserve the wood can be released.
• Municipal solid waste landfills cells are built to prevent leakage and to detect contaminated water leakage. Contaminated water is collected and is treated before discharge into the environment. C&D debris disposal cells are not built to this same standard.

It is recommended that you keep treated wood separate during a construction, renovation, or demolition project. This will make it easier to manage and may reduce your disposal costs.

If treated wood is in good condition, think about reusing it. Burning of treated wood is not permitted.

If you have to dispose of treated wood, contact us for further information at 902-637-2322, before you bring it to us. At this time, no final decision has been made but we may still accept treated wood for shipment to landfill. However, we may require you to separate out treated wood from other wood and C&D debris and/or pay an additional tipping fee.