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Organics

Organic items are collected every week. Check your collection calendar.

These items are converted into soil for growing fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

Participation in the organics (green bin) program is mandatory.

Using your green bin is easy

Weekly collection reduces the stinky bin smell, and it’s better for the environment.

Put your fruit and vegetable peels, meat, fish, and bones in your green bin. They don’t go in the garbage.

If you put them in your garbage, they:

Tips for using your kitchen container and green bin:

Acceptable organic items

These items are examples of what to put in your green bin:

  • food scraps
  • fruit and vegetable peels
  • bones, meat, and fish
  • coffee grounds and filters
  • paper napkins, paper towels
  • loose shredded paper
  • cotton balls
  • greasy pizza boxes
  • microwave popcorn bags
  • house plants (soil removed)
  • Check How to Sort Your Waste to see if an item goes in your green bin.

    Diapers and plastic grocery or retail bags are not acceptable green bin items.

    Other information

    Your kitchen container is a handy way to collect items for your green bin.

    Line your kitchen container with certified compostable bags.

    When choosing your compostable liner bag, look for one of these symbols:

    You can also line your kitchen container with paper bags, newspaper, shredded paper or paper towel. To reduce moisture, put baking soda or shredded paper in the bottom of the container.

    Empty the contents of your kitchen container into your green bin.

    New kitchen containers are $5 each and are available at Access Peel and select Community Recycling Centres (CRCs).

    Access Peel

    • The Region of Peel
      10 Peel Centre Dr.
    • PAMA
      9 Wellington St E.
    • The Region of Peel
      7120 Hurontario St.

    Community Recycling Centres

    Cash payments are not accepted.

    Your green bin holds 100L of organic waste. Green bins are one size only.

    If your green bin is full, put excess organics in a compostable bag. Put the bag next to your organics bin on your collection day. Excess bags of organics do not need tags.

    Green bin lock

    Your green bin has a special lock. This lock stops animals and insects from opening the bin.

    The lock works like the keys to your house. Turn it one way to lock it, and the other way to unlock it.

    Always leave the lock in the vertical locked position. The contents of the bin will be collected with the lid locked.

    Take the Peel challenge and reduce your food waste by the equivalent of a watermelon this year.

    40% of the food we throw out is still good to eat.

    These 3 simple tips can help the average Peel household cut food waste and save up to $112 per month:

    1) Plan smart

    • Before shopping, check what's already in your cupboards, fridge and freezer.
    • Consider which meals you'll make at home and which you'll eat at restaurants.
    • Plan to serve leftovers.
    • Make a shopping list or check online for a food planning app.
    • Use recipes to plan your meals and decide:
      • The portion size.
      • The exact amount of food that you'll need.

    2) Buy smart

    • Don't shop hungry.
    • Avoid buying items on impulse or on a whim.
    • Check best before dates and other date labelling.
    • Only buy "family size" packages or "buy one, get one free" items if you're sure you'll eat all the food.
    • Shop more often for perishables, such as bananas.
    • Buy smaller amounts of fresh foods that expire quickly; for example, buy 2 or 3 cobs of corn instead of a full sealed package.
    • Buy loose rather than packaged food; for example, buy one avocado instead of a full bag.

    3) Store smart

    • Eat older food items first. (Tip: put an "eat first" sign on these items so you'll know you've had them longer.)
    • Set your fridge to 4oC (or lower); set your freezer to -18oC (or lower).
    • For refrigerated items, put ready-to-eat foods on the top shelf, left-over food to be reheated on the middle shelf and raw food on the bottom shelf.
    • Store these items separately:
      • Ripe/unripe food
      • Onions/potatoes
      • Fruits/vegetables
    • Put some items in the freezer:
      • Divide large packages into smaller portions and freeze.
      • Freeze extras such as bread, meat and leftovers. Divide leftovers into smaller portions.
      • Freeze food up to 24 hours before its best before date.
      • Write the date on the container for a food item before putting it into the freezer.

    Shelf life and expiration

    If you're not sure if you should eat or throw out a food:

    Sell-by date

    The sell-by date is the last date a store is supposed to display the product for sale. If you buy a product past this date, be sure to eat it soon after purchase.

    Best before date

    The best before date tells you more about quality than safety. It indicates when an unopened product might start to lose its flavour, texture and nutritional value, not that it's unsafe to eat.

    Expiration date

    Don't eat any food past its expiration date. Check to see if the food is mouldy or has an odd odour, texture or colour.

    Hard cheese (such as cheddar) is an exception: just cut an inch around the mould and eat the rest.

    If a soft cheese (i.e., cottage cheese or cream cheese) has mould on it, throw it away. Toxins produced by the mould can spread throughout the cheese.

    Always put food waste in your backyard composter or organics, never in your recycling or garbage.