For any event, trash removal and on-site waste solutions are paramount for making the event go smoothly and reducing the amount of work post-event. Whether it’s waste from concession stands or food trucks, swag, floral arrangements, or party decor, events generate monumental amounts of trash. Most event venues do not have the capacity for trash generated, particularly outdoor parks and residential locations. For this reason, dumpsters become necessary—but how many do you need?
Almost 80% of event waste is either recyclable or compostable, and by providing discrete dumpsters and marked bins, you can reduce your landfill contribution and boost the sustainability of your event.
But what size do you need? First it’s important to distinguish between bins, dumpsters and roll-offs. A bin is essentially a trash can. For composting, which involves the disposal of organic waste that tends to compact, be denser and weigh more than other waste and recyclables, one or more 64 gallon bins with wheels is usually ideal, particularly since many people eat much of their food and the volume of waste tends to be less.
Dumpsters and rolloffs are terms that are often used interchangeably, but dumpsters tend to be smaller, have a front-loading lid, and are used for routine waste collection whereas roll-offs are large, open-topped metal containers designed for short term projects. Dumpsters tend to come in smaller sizes. Most commonly, they are available in 3 cubic yard, 5 cubic yard, and 6 cubic yard variations. They do come in 2 cubic yard and 10 cubic yard sizes but this is rarer.
By contrast, roll-offs are much larger, the smallest being 10 cubic yards, and sizes varying depending on the vendor from 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, up to 40 cubic yards, with the latter being the largest standard option.
Most large scale events require roll-offs as opposed to dumpsters. For an idea of how much can fit in each size, please reference the chart below:
What can be disposed of in the dumpsters? Often times this depends upon what the dumpster company allows. Some companies have specific dumpsters only for construction debris and do not allow any food or beverage contamination. For events where food and beverages are being served, but where state and local laws require refuse and recycling separation, you might need separate dumpsters, one for glass, aluminum, metals, plastics and cardboard and another one for non-recyclable plastics and other waste. If you can offer composting, then ideally you might need smaller composting bins for food and organics waste (64 gallon) along with regular sized dumpsters or roll-offs. Hazardous materials and substances like asbestos, chemicals, paints, solvents, batteries, fluorescent bulbs and medical waste. If your event requires a production build, or there is any construction at the site that generates these categories of waste, then alternative disposal means need to be found.
So what size dumpsters do you need for your event? Choosing the right amount of cubic yardage for your event waste needs can be challenging if there is a lot of extra packaging and production build waste. Smaller events like weddings, bat mitzvahs, baby showers, and birthdays often involve only one meal with some possible gift wrap and decor waste and therefore generate about 1-2 lbs per person per event. For these events, with a head count of 50-150 people, two to three (3) cubic yard or one or two (6) cubic yard dumpsters or one (10) cubic yard roll-off will suffice.
Twenty (20)-cubic yard roll-offs are great for corporate events or private parties of 200-2000 guests, depending on food served and production waste like floral arrangements, packaging, and decor. With many producers opting for digital alternatives to printed materials, that kind of landfill diversion strategy lessens the necessity for more cubic yardage.
Concerts, festivals, and sporting events often require multiple 30 and 40 yard dumpsters depending on the guest count, whether you intend to compost and recycle, whether or not food and beverage will be served, and what kind of production waste will be generated.
For a 4000-guest champagne polo party with an elaborate production build, almost 350 cubic yards of trash, recycling, and compost was generated, or the equivalent of eleven (3) cubic yard dumpsters and one (20) cubic yarder and seven (40) cubic yarders.
For the final tour of a rock band at the ports in San Pedro with over 10,000 attendees, almost ten (30) cubic yarders were used over the course of three days. The bulk of that waste wasn’t just beer and food containers, but also vast amounts of clothing items that were discarded throughout the mosh pit as well as paper waste and cardboard boxes.
For a Holi Festival at the Redondo Beach Seaside Lagoon with 2-3000 attendees, we supplied one (10) cubic yarder for recycling and another (20) cubic yarder for waste. Because the main waste was cardboard boxes and plastic packets for the colored powder and food ware waste from a limited selection of Indian food from one vendor, not all of the yardage was utilized.
If you are renting dumpsters for a weekend event, private haulers are generally more likely to offer weekend delivery or pickup, but Sunday and after hours (after 4 or 5:00 pm) pickups will often generate an additional charge. Franchise haulers, like Athens Services, for example, will charge $500 for each after hours delivery or pickup and will not guarantee a time or delivery window. Their window is generally the entire day, and at times drivers will miss that day and come the next. Most dumpster delivery drivers start their day at 3 or 4am as it’s easier to deliver and pickup in metropolitan areas in the 6-8:00am morning window when there is less traffic. Private haulers often offer better rates as well.
Note that changing out dumpsters last minute because you miscalculated how much waste your event would produce is often a recipe for disaster. We’ve had event producers hire trash trucks to come remove garbage off the top of dumpsters because they under-anticipated their needs. In order to remove roll-offs, the truck driver needs to be able to tarp the top off once situated on the truck which means that waste cannot be spilling out of the top. Therefore, it’s better to provide more cubic yardage than you think you are going to need rather than less. Otherwise, you may need to pay a premium to remove the leftover waste that cannot fit into the dumpster and to pay cleanup crews if bags not in the dumpster break and spill over the venue’s terrain.
If you have waste management needs for your event, PopUp CleanUp can help you with landfill diversion strategies and your dumpster rental needs.
