Curbside Recycling
The following information is provided for curbside recycling (blue box). If you place your blue box at the end of your driveway, this should help you organize the many materials that are accepted in our program. If you’re looking for convenience, two or more blue boxes is the way to go: All your plastic and metal containers go into one blue box, and all your papers go into another. Check below for more information, take the tutorial ,or download our sorting guide! Want to use bags? Please contact us.
Laundry baskets, milk crates, rubbermaid totes, carts on wheels, bags, etc. are not acceptable boxes. Please use a curbside blue box. Click here for a list of locations.
Always have your blue box to the curb by 7AM on your collection day. Blue boxes cannot exceed 40 lbs for Health and Safety reasons.
**Please click on the item for a full description**
Blue Box 1 - Containers
Rinse containers. Place lids in one can, pinch closed and put in blue box. Include clean tin foil, pie plates and spiral wound containers such as pringles or frozen juice. Metal pots, pans and cookie sheets are now accepted!
No cigarette/butter wrappers or scrap metal. Do not put aluminum cans inside tin cans please.
Rinse containers. Place aluminum soft drink cans in the blue box. Include aluminum foil and pie plates.
No cigarette/butter wrappers or scrap metal. Do not place aluminum cans inside tin cans please. It takes 5% of the energy to make a new can our of a recycled can. Aluminum is used to make new aluminum cans.
Rinse containers. Place soft drink water and juice bottles, mouthwash, peanut and salad dressing bottles, etc. in blue box. Save space in your blue box by crushing bottles and putting the lid back on.
These types of bottles are made from Polyethylene Terephthalate or PET #1 plastic and has many uses including insulation for coats and sleeping bags as well as the fibre in carpets.
Look for the #1 encased in a recycling symble to identify PET.
Black plastic is garbage.
Rinse containers. Place milk, juice, water and laundry detergent jugs in the blue box. Save space in your blue box by crushing bottles and putting the lid back on.
These jugs are made from High Density Polyethylene or HDPE #2 plastic and is recycled into packaging, binders, decking, mud flaps, flooring mats and even speed bumps.
Look for the #2 encased in a recycling symbol to identify HDPE.
Black plastic is garbage.
Rinse containers. Place margarine, ketchup, cottage cheese, cream cheese and yogurt tubs and lids in the blue box.
These containers are made from Polypropylene or PP #5 plastic and can be used to make the insulation around battery cables, brooms and brushes, ice scrapes, oil funnels, and landscape borders.
Look for the #5 encased in a recycling symbol to identify PP.
Black plastic is garbage. Coffee pods are also garbage.
Rinse containers. Place clean polystyrene containers inside the blue box. Large pieces of styrofoam packaging need to be broken down and put in a clear plastic bag.
No blue/pink construction insulation foam, peanuts or sponge foam such as pool noodle. No plates, or plastic cutlery. Remove all wrap and absorbent pads.
This type of packaging is made from Polystyrene or PS #6 plastic and is used to make CD cases and light switch plates. Look for the #6 encased in a recycling symbol to identify PS.
Black plastic is garbage.
Make sure all metal containers are empty. Take lids off the paint cans so driver can see they’re empty and place in the blue box.
No paint cans larger than 4L. No paint cans made of both plastic and metal mixed please.
Propane/helium tanks and paint cans with product still inside is hazardous waste. See our hazardous waste page for info.
Metal frying pans (including cast iron), pots and cookie sheets can now be placed in blue box. Ensure there is no food residue.
No glass tops. Plastic handles attached to the pan or pot is okay. Metal cookware is processed as time and used to make car parts and various other metal products.
Blue Box 2 - Papers and Fibres
Place clean, un-soiled newspapers and inserts into your paper/fibre blue box.
Recycled newsprint is used to make new newspaper as well as wrapping paper and various other paper based products. Recycling one metric tonne of newspaper is like saving 17 mature trees.
Put clean shredded/non-shredded bleached white office paper and envelopes into your paper/fibre blue box.
Because it can be difficult to contain shredded office paper, this material can be placed in a transparent blue or clear bag and placed beside your blue box on collection day.
Rinse gable top cartons, tetra paks and juice boxes and place into your paper/fibre blue box.
Beverage containers made out of paper have a smaller carbon footprint and some say are safer than the plastic alternative. Be sure to recycle these materials at home, but also at schools where many of these items find their way into the waste stream.
Place cereal, tissue and other single pane boxboard into your paper/fibre blue box.
Cereal bag liners, and wrappers are garbage.
If you would keep them together by placing the smaller boxes into the larger ones. This allows the sort line staff to pick more in one grab increasing the efficiency on the sort line.
Phone books can be recycled in your paper/fibre blue box.
On days when heavier materials are being recycled, be sure that your blue box does not weigh more than 45lbs. Residents can use one of the many depots located throughout our service area for any overflow recycling.
Magazines can be recycled in your paper/fibre blue box. Include glossy or non-glossy magazines and catalogues.
If you’re cleaning out a book shelf, or have a lot of heavier material to recycle, spread it out over multiple blue boxes. Blue boxes weighing more than 45lbs will not be accepted.
Place all film plastic in one bag and place in your paper/fibre blue box.
Plastic bags are processed on the paper/fibre sort line at the material recovery facility.
Low Density Polyethylene or LDPE #4 is used to make shipping envelopes, floor tiles and plastic wood. Look for the #4 encased in a mobius loop to identify LDPE.
Chip bags, wrappers, pet food bags are garbage.
Rinse glass bottles and jars. Place on top of the rest of your paper so that the driver can remove and place in separate clear / colour glass chutes.
Return LCBO bottles to The Beer Store to get a refund.
No broken glass of any type, housewares, ceramic or window glass. Glass bottles and jars melt at different temperatures than a drinking glass or window glass. Glass is used to make new bottles, jars and road aggregate.
Corrugated Cardboard
Flatten corrugated cardboard boxes into a maximum size of 30″ x 30″ x 8″. Place beside your blue boxes, standing up. Use packing tape or twine to bundle your flattened cardboard.
No waxed boxes, soiled pizza boxes.