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Recycling

Recycling is collected every other week. Check your waste calendar for your collection schedule.

Watch how your recycling efforts are making a difference:

Recycling collection guidelines

If you don’t have garbage and recycling carts, visit Bag-based collection.

Other information

Check How to sort your waste to see if an item goes in your recycling.

These items are a sample of acceptable recyclable items:

  • Most paper, plastic, glass and metal containers and packaging
  • Magazines, newspaper, and cardboard cartons (small bits or pieces go in the garbage)
  • Plastic and glass bottles
  • Milk and juice cartons
  • Juice boxes
  • Plastic cups (straws go in the garbage)

Take the extra step to empty your tubs, containers, bottles and jars.

We cannot separate food from containers at our recycling facility. Full or partially-full containers can't be recycled. They are sent to landfill as garbage.

This information applies to you if your address receives cart-based collection.

If you do not have garbage or recycling carts, visit Bag-Based Collection.

Recycling carts (blue lid)

Recycling carts are available in 3 sizes: small, medium and large.

This video gives an overview of preparing recyclables for your recycling cart.

Using your recycling cart

  • Empty and rinse recyclable items and put them directly in your recycling cart.
  • Do not put recyclable items inside plastic or grocery bags.
  • Leave at least 1 m (3 ft.) feet of clear space around cart at curb.
  • Make sure the lid is closed. The lid of your recycling cart must be closed for collection.
  • Face the handles towards your home and point the arrows towards the street.
  • Do not fasten lids with wire or bungee cords.
  • Do not place carts on top of snow banks.

Excess recycling

If your recycling cart is full, put excess recyclables in a transparent or clear blue bag. Put the bag next to your blue cart on your recycling collection day. Excess bags of recyclables do not need tags.

Excess cardboard must be bundled up to 90 cm x 90 cm (36 in. x 36 in.) and placed 1 m (3 ft.) away from your recycling cart.

Additional tips:

  • Put plastic grocery bags, plastic newspaper bags and plastic wrapping into one tied plastic bag, then put the tied bag in your recycling cart.
  • Separate rolled newspapers from plastic bags and elastics. Flatten the newspaper and put it in your recycling cart and reuse the elastic or put it in the garbage.
  • Separate cardboard beverage cases from plastic wrapping. Put the plastic wrapping inside a tied plastic bag. Put the beverage case and the tied bag in your recycling cart.
  • Create more space in your cart by:
    • Flattening plastic bottles and beverage cartons.
    • Folding aluminum trays.
    • Flattening small cardboard boxes

Exchanging, repairing or replacing your recycling cart

You can change your recycling cart for a smaller or larger-sized cart. An exchange fee of $25 will apply. Get more details about changing a cart size.

Recycling carts that are damaged, broken, lost or stolen will be repaired or replaced free, except in the case of negligence. Report a cart problem.

The province of Ontario is changing who is responsible for recycling. Currently, municipalities collect and process recycling.

Under the new plan, producers – who supply recyclable materials to the community – will pay for and run recycling programs. These changes make producers fully accountable and financially responsible for the disposal of their products and packaging.

From July 2023 to December 2025, all municipalities in Ontario will switch to the new producer led recycling program. Peel’s transition date is scheduled for October 2024. Once this transfer of responsibility is complete, Peel Region will no longer be responsible for collecting and processing recycling.

After October 2024, Peel Region will continue to:

  • Collect your garbage, organics, and yard waste.
  • Operate its 6 Community Recycling Centres.
  • Provide programs to support diverting waste from landfill.
  • Collect recycling from fire, police and paramedic stations, community centres and arenas, places of worship, municipal buildings, and some small businesses already included in Peel Region’s collection program.

For you, this means that:

  • Your recycling will be collected by another organization.
  • Questions and customer service for recycling will be managed by producers.
  • Your recycling collection day may change.

The benefits of this change include:

  • More items eligible for recycling.
  • Better recycling in public spaces like parks and malls.
  • Recycling rules will be the same in all Ontario municipalities.
  • Packaging will improve to become easier to recycle.

Learn more about the Blue Box Program transition in Ontario.

If you have Peel-specific questions email Waste Management.