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Helpful tips for residential curbside waste collection this winter
Winter weather can cause a number of challenges for waste collection, both for residents and collection crews. Residents are asked to follow the guidelines below when placing items at the curb to help make collection easy and efficient for all.
What time is my waste and recycling collected?
Collection crews start curbside collection at 7 a.m. Please have all items out by this time to avoid being missed. While weather sometimes causes delays, there are also times when routes are changed or trucks are added resulting in earlier collection times. Collection crews have many streets to cover across town and cannot return for missed collections due to late set-outs.
Where should I place my collection items?
Please place green bins, blue boxes and garbage bags/containers at the end of your driveway in an area cleared of snow - never on the road or on top of a snowbank as this poses a safety risk to other motorists and collection crews. Collection crews will not climb snowbanks to retrieve materials. They can fall and get injured.
What can I do to prevent material from blowing out of my blue box?
There are several things you can do to help prevent materials, such as paper, from blowing out of your blue box and littering the streets on windy days:
. Place heavier items on top of the lighter items.
. Tie/bundle loose papers and cardboard to prevent from blowing around.
. Do not place plastic bags, styrofoam or take-out coffee cups in the blue box. These items are not recyclable in our program and are often seen blowing around the street.
. Keep items below the rim of the blue box, there is less chance of items blowing out if it is not overflowing.
. Wait until the following week's collection (there is no limit for the amount of blue box material put out for weekly collection).
How do I recycle my plastic bags?
You can drop off your plastic shopping bags at participating grocery retail locations across York Region. Please do not put plastic bags in your blue box. Blue boxes containing plastic bags or other non-accepted items - such as Styrofoam, shredded paper and household hazardous waste - will be left behind by collection crews. These materials contaminate the recycling stream and can cause costly damage to sorting equipment.
How do I find out more about the Town's waste management program?
Download Recycle Coach on your mobile phone. It is a free mobile app that provides residents collection schedules, features collection reminders and has a "what goes where" search function. Available at the App Store for Apple and Antroid phones.
We thank all residents for their co-operation and for participating in the Town's waste diversion and recycling program!