The City of Ottawa puts a limit on garbage, but where can you find a 140-litre bin?

When it comes to garbage, size matters The City of Ottawa caps garbage bins at 140L, but as CTV's Katelyn Wilson reports, no one actually sells them in that size.

The City of Ottawa's new curbside garbage policy will allow residents to count a 140-litre garbage bin as a single item, no matter how much garbage is inside, but finding a bin of that size is not easy.

The changes come into effect Sept. 30 and residents will be allowed to put any three items on the curb, including a large garbage bag, a bulky item like a piece of furniture, or a 140L container.

But where exactly can you find a 140L bin?

CTV News went to Walmart, Home Depot and Home Hardware but could only find bins that were 121L, 189L or 240L.

As for Amazon or Canadian Tire, we checked online and came up just under or well over that 140L limit.

"We don't have access to the 140-litre bin," said Omkar Atwal, owner of Leitrim Home Hardware. "I'm pretty sure those 140-litre containers would be available by the time September rolls around, but 121 litres is a very tiny difference between the two."

We managed to fit three big bags of garbage in a 121L container. Multiply that by three, and that's the new limit.

The city tells CTV News the new limit is all in the wording, saying residents can have up to a 140L container.

"The up to 140-litre bin capacity and weight limit have been in place for over a decade and were not changed as part of this policy. We recognize that the most common bins on the market today are between 80 and 121 litres; however the up to 140 litre standard allows for some flexibility depending on market availability," said Nichole Hoover-Bienasz, program manager of long-term planning with the city.

The new changes will allow the city to extend the life of its landfill and while it's status quo for now, it means residents will have to start thinking twice about what they throw away.