Published 2026-10-13 · Ride On Rentals, Delta BC
Transfer stations take only a token amount of soil, rock and broken concrete. Here is where the rest can go, and the two provincial rules to check before you tip fill on anyone's land.
Dig out a patio, break up an old walkway or lower a garden bed and you end up with the heaviest, least wanted material on the job: soil, rock, broken concrete and old asphalt. A dump trailer moves it easily. The harder part is knowing where to dump soil and concrete once it is loaded, because the regional transfer stations do not want it in a garbage load. This guide covers the rule, the realistic options around the Lower Mainland, and two provincial rules that matter if you are taking fill anywhere other than a recycler.
Metro Vancouver's Disposal Ban Program Manual lists "inert fill material including soil, sod, gravel, concrete and asphalt exceeding 0.5 cubic metres per load" among the banned hazardous and operational impact materials. The same item appears in Schedule C of the regional tipping fee bylaw, GVS&DD Bylaw 379.
Two things follow from that wording. First, a small amount is tolerated: up to 0.5 cubic metres in a load. Second, once you go over it, the load is in the category that carries a fixed surcharge. Table 4 of Bylaw 400, in force since July 1, 2026, sets that surcharge at $80 per load plus any remediation or clean-up costs. That is on top of the tipping fee for the rest of the load.
Half a cubic metre is a patch one metre by one metre dug 50 cm deep, or a box roughly 80 cm on each side. A few broken pavers mixed into renovation garbage are fine. A trailer bed of excavated soil is not.
For anything more than a token amount, there are four realistic destinations. Which one fits depends on what is in the pile and how clean it is.
Broken concrete, brick and asphalt get crushed and reused as aggregate, so private recycling yards across the region take them, usually priced by the tonne or by the load. The regional district's Metro Vancouver Recycles directory, run with the Recycling Council of BC, lists facilities by material. Search "concrete" or "asphalt" with your city. We don't name or recommend yards. Their acceptance rules and rates change, so call before you load.
Questions worth asking on the phone:
Some landscape supply yards take clean topsoil or sand back. Many do not. Expect to be asked where the material came from and what is mixed into it. A load that is half sod, roots and bits of landscape fabric is a harder sell than screened soil.
The cheapest tonne is the one you never haul. Clean excavated soil can often level a low spot or build up a garden bed on the same lot. Broken concrete slabs can edge a bed or go under a shed pad as base. Check your city's rules before you build retaining walls or change grades near a property line.
"Clean fill wanted" signs show up on rural lots around Delta, Surrey and Langley. Read the next section before you tip anything there.
A lot of open land in Delta, Richmond, Surrey and Langley sits in the Agricultural Land Reserve. The Agricultural Land Commission says plainly that "placement of fill or removal of soil in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) is regulated." Only a short list of activities in section 35 of the ALR Use Regulation is allowed without ALC authorization. Most other fill placement needs a Notice of Intent, which the ALC says must be filed at least 60 days before the work starts, or a full application.
The paperwork is the landowner's job, but you are the one putting material on the ground. If someone on farmland asks for your fill, it is fair to ask whether they have ALC authorization for it. If the answer is vague, take the load somewhere else.
The Province's soil relocation rules under the Contaminated Sites Regulation require a notification, completed by a qualified professional, before soil is moved off a site that has had certain industrial or commercial uses (the uses listed in Schedule 2 of that regulation). The government page lists exemptions, including sites that never had a Schedule 2 use and soil volumes under 30 cubic metres per project, except at high-risk sites.
For a normal garden or patio dig, check those exemptions first. If the property has any industrial or commercial history, stop and get professional advice before any soil leaves the lot.
Soil, gravel and concrete fill a trailer by weight long before they fill it by volume. A bed that looks half empty can already be at the trailer's rating. Our guide to trailer GVWR explains how to read the weight plate and why the load counts against both the trailer and your truck. Ask us for the trailer's rating when you book, and tell us what you are hauling.
Our guides on how to load a dump trailer and how a hydraulic dump trailer works cover tipping technique.
Real jobs are rarely tidy. A patio tear-out brings concrete, sand base, roots and a roll of old landscape fabric. Sort it on the ground before it goes in the trailer:
| Material | Where it usually goes |
|---|---|
| Broken concrete, brick, asphalt | Concrete and asphalt recycler (call first about rebar) |
| Clean soil, sand, gravel | Reuse on site, a yard that accepts it, or an authorized fill destination |
| Sod, roots, branches | Yard trimmings area at a recycling and waste centre |
| Fabric, plastic edging, garbage | Garbage at a transfer station |
Sod is the odd one. Metro Vancouver's tipping fee bylaw includes grass sod in its definition of green waste, so sod belongs in the yard trimmings area, not in garbage. Shake off as much soil as you can, because the soil is the part the disposal ban is aimed at. Our Metro Vancouver dump fees guide has the current rates for the garbage and yard trimmings portions.
Work out where to dump soil and concrete before the trailer shows up, not after it is full. Phone the recycler, confirm what they take and whether you can tip, then plan one trip per material if you need to. When you book a dump trailer with us, tell us what you are moving and roughly how much, plus the tow vehicle you will use. We will confirm the trailer, the hitch and wiring needs, and availability. Our gravel and soil trailer rental page has the details, or call (604) 767-7977.
Only a small amount. Metro Vancouver's disposal ban treats soil, sod, gravel, concrete and asphalt over 0.5 cubic metres per load as banned material in garbage, and a load with banned operational impact material is surcharged $80 plus any clean-up costs. Larger quantities need to go to a recycler or a legitimate fill destination.
Private concrete and asphalt recyclers take broken concrete, brick and asphalt for crushing into aggregate. Search "concrete" in the Metro Vancouver Recycles tool for facilities near you, and call ahead about rebar, mixed loads and minimum charges.
Be careful. Placing fill on Agricultural Land Reserve land is regulated by the Agricultural Land Commission, and most fill placement needs a Notice of Intent or an application. Ask the landowner whether they have ALC authorization before you tip.
Usually not for a garden or patio project. BC's soil relocation notification applies to soil leaving sites with certain past industrial or commercial uses, and the Province lists exemptions, including projects under 30 cubic metres of soil (except high-risk sites). If the property has an industrial or commercial history, get professional advice first.
Metro Vancouver's tipping fee bylaw includes grass sod in its definition of green waste, so sod belongs in the yard trimmings area, not in garbage. Shake off as much soil as you can, because the soil is the part the disposal ban is aimed at.
Rules and fees from Metro Vancouver's Disposal Ban Program Manual, GVS&DD Bylaws 379 and 400, the Agricultural Land Commission and the BC soil relocation page, read October 2026.
Questions about a rental trailer? Call Ride On Rentals at (604) 767-7977 or email [email protected].