Garbage & Recycling

Recycling

Blue Box Recycling until December 31, 2025

Please click below for the information regarding recycling collection until December 31, 2025. Please note, that while changes will be made to the approved list of materials for 2026, these materials will NOT be collected until January 1, 2026 under the new program.

Recycling collection is completed through agreement with the Bruce Area Solid Waste Recycling (BASWR). BASWR is a not-for-profit organization. For more recycling information visit Bruce Area Recycling or call 1-800-794-9770.

Curbside recycling collection is carried out bi-weekly. To ensure collection, all residents must have their sorted recycling out at the curb by 8:00 am on the day of pick-up. If issues arise, residents may contact Bruce Area Recycling or call 1-800-794-9770.

View the map to find your section and the 2025 schedule to find your collection day.

Many seasonally-maintained roads do not receive curbside collection during the winter season.

What Can I Recycle?

In order to minimize costs and recycle as much as possible, recycling collection is not the same in all municipalities. Please take a look at what you can recycle, and keep handy for future reference.

You can view the Waste Management By-Law for all rules, regulations, and guidelines relating to recycle collection.

Recycling Depots

Recycling depots are available at the following locations:

  • Full Depot – Amabel Landfill Site, 1249 Sauble Falls Parkway, during regular business hours.
  • Cardboard – Hepworth at 50 Queen St E next to the Ball Diamond
  • Cardboard – Wiarton in the Louisa St parking lot
  • Cardboard – Allenford in the Allenford Business Centre parking lot

Changes to Blue Box Recycling in 2026

Starting on January 1, 2026, the Town of South Bruce Peninsula will not be responsible for the residential blue box program, with the responsibility shifting to the producers. This means producers of recyclable materials will fully fund and operate the program. Moving forward, the representative of the producers, Circular Materials of Ontario, will be providing the service. Only Eligible Sources will be picked up curbside, meaning that Ineligible Sources may need to set up their own recycling services.

Your collection schedule and the materials you can recycle will remain unchanged until December 31, 2025. Starting January 1, 2026, Circular Materials has provided the types of materials accepted in the new blue box program. There will be a “two-stream” collection system using two bins, with paper and fibres in one bin, and containers in a separate bin. You can download this handy image you can print and save for reference. For a full detailed list of items that will be accepted in your curbside blue bin starting January 1, 2026, see the detailed flyer explaining the two material types and how to sort your recyclables into the two streams.

It is expected that the collection days will stay the same, however this page will be updated if changes to the schedule are required.

Curbside recycling collection is carried out bi-weekly. To ensure collection, all residents must have their sorted recycling out at the curb by 8:00 am on the day of pick-up. If issues arise, residents will contact Bruce Area Recycling, 1-800-794-9770 or info@brucerecycling.com

View the map to find your section and the 2026 schedule to find your collection day.

Many seasonally-maintained roads do not receive curbside collection during the winter season.

A breakdown of how these new changes will affect the different types of properties is provided below.

Residential properties will remain eligible for curbside blue box collection under the new provincial model. Residents can continue to place their recyclables out for curbside collection, which will now include cardboard, which previously had to be taken to a depot. Residential recycling information will be provided directly on Circular Materials of Ontario’s website going forward.

Under the new legislation, convenience depots are not supported or funded by Circular Materials for properties that receive curbside collection. A convenience depot is defined as a depot that is located within an area that currently has curbside collection (for example, the depot at the landfill or the cardboard-only depots). Because all recyclable items will be collected curbside, you will no longer have the use of a depot.

For residential properties that formerly used the depot because they cannot receive curbside collection (for example, properties located on an island), or only receive curbside collection seasonally because their road does not receive winter maintenance, then the convenience depot will be remaining at the landfill for your use. Please follow the signage at the depot for Residential Recycling, ensuring to follow the specific sorting requirements.

Multi-residential properties (properties with more than one residence) maycontinue to receive curbside blue box collection.

Properties with six (6) or fewer residential units will continue to receive collection, which will now include cardboard.

If you have more than six (6) residential units on the property, but have been receiving curbside collection since 2019, you will continue to receive collection, but if you have not been receiving curbside collection since 2019, you will be ineligible and will not receive curbside collection; you will have to wait until 2031 to request collection curbside.

Industrial, commercial, and institutional (IC&I) waste is regulated separately from residential waste in Ontario, and is not eligible for curbside blue box collection by Circular Materials as per the Province of Ontario’s Blue Box Regulation.

To assist these ineligible IC&I properties (commercial businesses, churches, daycares, etc.) with managing their recyclable materials, the Town is arranging for a blue box depot at our Landfill Site, located at 1249 Sauble Falls Parkway. The depot will remain open during landfill hours. There will not be a cost to IC&I customers to use the recycling depot at the landfill site, but you will have to arrange to transport your own materials there. IC&I depot users will need to follow specific sorting requirements that will differ from residential/curbside recycling.

IC&I properties also have the option to arrange their own private company to collect their recyclables from their location, at their own cost, if they do not want to transport their materials to the depot. Please see the FAQs listed below for additional details.

If your property has both Residential Unit(s) and Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (IC&I) units, you are considered a Multi-Unit Property.

The residential unit(s) will continue to receive curbside blue box collection. Residents can continue to place their recyclables out for curbside collection, which will now include cardboard.

However, the IC&I unit(s) will not receive curbside collection. Please see the dropdown for Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (IC&I) Properties, provided above, or the FAQs, provided below, for details about how to manage your recyclables.

Blue Box Transition FAQs

Are the accepted curbside materials changing on January 1, 2026?
Yes, the materials will be expanding and more items, including cardboard, will be accepted curbside. There will be a “two-stream” collection system with paper and fibres in one bin and containers in a separate bin. You can download this handy image you can print and save for reference. For a full detailed list of items that will be accepted in your curbside blue bin starting January 1, 2026, see the detailed flyer explaining the two material types and how to sort your recyclables into the two streams.

What am I supposed to do with my Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (IC&I) recycling?
Under the new provincially initiated program, IC&I properties have to manage their own recycling. The Town is aware of two local providers that provide third party recycling service: Waste Management – Mount Forest and Miller Waste – Owen Sound. As the Town recognizes ordering a third party bin is not reasonable for small volume producers, the Town has approved implementing commercial bins at the existing landfill depot. The commercial depot is not intended to subsidize large producers. Interested parties will be required to take recyclable materials to the depot and sort them into the appropriate bins. The depot will remain open during landfill hours.

Is my collection schedule going to change?
It is expected that the collection days will remain the same. Any additional information will get posted as it is received.

Who do I contact if I have questions?
The new blue bin program in Ontario is administered by Circular Materials Ontario, 1-877-667-2626 info@circularmaterials.ca but questions about how to sort your recyclables and other curbside recycling service questions should be directed to Bruce Area Solid Waste Recycling, 519-797-5557 or 1-800-794-9770 info@brucerecycling.com.

I have transient/short term rental accommodations (STRA), how does this affect me?
Residential rentals where a house or residential unit (such as an STRA) is rented will still receive curbside blue box collection. Facilities used for temporary accommodation, such as motels/hotels, are considered commercial (IC&I) producers.

How does this affect my campground?
Seasonal/long-term rentals maybe considered a residential unit within the property, and these sites would be eligible as a multi-unit residential property. Please refer to the information above regarding multi-unit properties, including the 2031 phase-in process for multi-unit properties who have not received collection since 2019.
Transient sites used for short term purposes are not eligible. Campground operators will have to follow the guidelines for IC&I properties.
If campgrounds accommodate both long-term and transient sites, they would be required to demonstrate they attempt best efforts to separate the streams.

Other Recycling Initiatives

The Town accepts batteries to recycle, ensuring that this hazardous material is not placed in the landfill. The Town collects select batteries at the landfill, Town Hall and the Sauble Beach Community Centre. The approved batteries include single-use batteries (AAAs, AAs, Cs, Ds, and 9-volts), lithium batteries, button cell batteries, and corroded or leaking batteries (which must be placed in a plastic bag before placing in the collection container).

The Town is now selling Green Cone Digesters. Green Cone Digesters are a viable way to manage your kitchen food waste at home, cutting down on the amount of material that enters the landfill site. Not just a traditional composter, a green cone digester harnesses the power of the sun and beneficial microbes to break down all types of food waste, even meats, oils and bones, and does not attract wildlife when used correctly!

Additional information can be found on the manufacturer, Compostec’s website.

The initial promotional price is $115.00 plus $14.95 HST = $129.95 and the green cones can be purchased at Town Hall using cash, cheque or debit.

The Town has initiated a mattress recycling program to divert this bulky material out of the landfill. While there is still a cost to you to dispose of your mattresses at the landfill, the tipping fees cover the cost to transport the mattresses to the facility where they will be recycled. The tipping fee to dispose of mattresses is posted at the landfill, and is included within the

Fee By-Law

.

The Town operates a waste electrical and electronics equipment collection program at the Amabel Landfill Site through the Electronic Products Recycling Association (EPRA) Program. The following is a list of electronics that are accepted free of charge:

  • Display Devices – eg TV’s, computer monitors, CCTV, All in One computers
  • Desktop Computers – eg Computer terminals, desktops, computers, microcomputers, thin clients
  • Portable Computers – eg laptops, notepads, notebooks, tablet pc’s (excludes PDA’s and other handheld devices)
  • Computer Peripherals – eg mouse, disk drives, cables, keyboards, modems
  • Printing, Copying and Multifunction devices – eg printers, photocopiers,
  • Telephones and Answering Machines – (excludes commercial payphones, accessories, networked and vehicle equipment)
  • Cellular Devices and Pagers – (excludes non-cell enabled PDA’s, satellite phones)
  • Image, Audio and Video Devices – eg DVD players, vehicle speakers & radios, digital picture frames, VCR’s

For further information on devices which can be dropped off see the EPRA website.

The Town is a registered collector through the

Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority

, a used tire program established to divert used on-road and off-road tires supplied to the Ontario market. The Town collects tires at the Amabel Landfill Site free of charge.