• Site Map

Blue box recycling

Don't sort them.
Don't tie them.
Just empty them and toss them in loose.
And no plastic bags!

Recycling is easy.
Good for our city,
Good for our planet.

You can recycle:

	plastic containers with a recycling triangle on the bottom, including all bottles, pails, tubs, and jugs aluminum drink cans steel (tin) food cans milk and juice cartons juice boxes
	newspapers and inserts, flyers and junk mail magazines, phone books, household paper, shredded paper and envelopes cardboard egg cartons and paper tubes flattened cardboard, no more than 1 metre in any direction, e.g., cereal, cracker, tissue, laundry, shoe and packing boxes
	glass jars and bottles (clear and coloured).

Common items you can't recycle:

• plastic bags, plastic packaging and cellophane
• household hazardous waste containers, such as antifreeze, motor oil, windshield washer fluid, bleach, pesticide or herbicide. You can identify many hazardous waste products by the danger symbols (e.g., corrosive, explosive, poison and flammable)
  
• aluminum foil or foil pie plates
• foil or foam takeout food containers
• foam packaging, foam egg cartons or foam meat trays
• mirrors, window glass or broken glass
• light bulbs, drinking glasses, ceramics or cookware

Recycling tips:

• Didn't find the answer you're looking for? Check out our frequently asked questions.

  Don't tie materials together as the processing facility can't remove bags, string, wire, etc.
• Leave lids on containers, caps on bottles, staples in paper, labels on containers and windows in envelopes.
• Give your containers a quick rinse to get rid of bacteria and odours.
• Crush plastic bottles, milk jugs and milk and juice cartons to leave more room in your blue box.
• Leave enough space between your blue box and your garbage so the workers can tell what to pick up.
• Put your blue box out before 7:00 a.m. on your collection day.
• Put out only items that we can recycle.
• Don't put any type of cover or net on your blue box when you place it out for collection.
• Remember, no plastic bags. Don't put plastic bags inside your blue box, don't put plastic bags outside your blue box and don't put your recyclable items in a plastic bag.

For more information on blue box recycling, call the recycling and garbage information line at 986-8888, Code 9817 or contact 311.

(pdf - 389kb)

This page is printer friendly.
Top of page	This page was last updated on February 7, 2011