Changes coming to blue bin program in Toronto in new year
CBC
Changes are coming to residential recycling in Toronto starting in the new year, two councillors announced on Thursday.
Blue bins will still be picked up in Toronto, but city workers won't be doing the job as of Jan. 1, 2026, Coun. Mike Colle and Coun. Paula Fletcher told reporters at a news conference at city hall.
Circular Materials, a private company, will take over collection of recyclables for single-family homes, most multi-residential buildings, schools, long-term care facilities and retirement homes. Changes to recycling collection do not apply to commercial buildings, city facilities, divisions or agencies, charities, institutions or religious organizations.
Colle said the transition is required under provincial legislation that is shifting responsibility for recycling from the city to producers.
"Starting on January 1st, residential recycling in Toronto will change and will no longer be collected by the City of Toronto. No longer will the city be involved in the blue bin program. It's now a provincial responsibility," Colle said.
In Toronto, residents will still use the same bin on the same recycling days, as dictated by their regular collection schedule issued by the city in early December. The materials to be recycled will be the same with a few additions.
If residents have a question, such as to report a missed collection, to request repair or replacement, they are told not to call 311, but to call Circular Materials at 1-888-921-2686 or circularmaterials.ca/toronto.
Matt Keliher, general manager of the city's solid waste management services, said Circular Materials will take over not only collection but also management of recycling.
"The city has worked diligently to ensure that we have a seamless transition for residents with the new service provider," Keliher said.
Fletcher, who chairs city council's infrastructure and environment committee, says the city received about 24,000 calls to its 311 line about the blue bin program in 2024.
"I’m a tiny bit worried that this new company will not understand what the level of service [is] that Torontonians have come to expect," she said.
Stickers with the contact information for Circular Materials have been affixed to the bins and the city will send out communications to residents to help create a smooth transition, Fletcher said.
Colle said the city introduced its blue box recycling program in 1988, one of the first in North America, and it collected only newspapers, glass, bottles and tin cans.
The city had a goal of diverting 15 per cent of waste of residential homes from the landfill. No plastics or cardboard boxes were collected.
Greater Sudbury taxpayers will be paying 3.9 per cent more in property taxes in 2026.
When it comes to wintry weather, the Maritimes has certainly dipped a toe into the water with this week's chilly temperatures and snow.
N.B. Power is warning that the U.S. company it hired to build and run a billion-dollar gas plant could walk away in April — a move that would set the project back years, and possibly lead to power shortages in the province.
After Serge Belloncik suffered a stroke in 2022, he developed aphasia, a communication disorder affecting his ability to speak.
Sioux Valley Dakota Nation says its annual Winterfest celebration has been cancelled for 2026, with the southwestern Manitoba First Nation's newly elected chief saying there was not enough time or funding to plan the four-day festival.
Amid a housing crisis, Saskatoon is poised to add more than 200 new apartment units near the downtown early next year.
Retired teacher Lynn Phaneuf says he and his wife generally only use the smart TV in the living room of their Prince Albert home to watch the news.
Tens of thousands of Edmonton public and Catholic school students are chronically absent each year, according to data obtained by CBC News. Education experts say they are alarmed by the numbers, warning they could be an early symptom of deeper issues for those students.
A Kelowna family fighting for justice reform and tougher laws to prevent intimate partner violence is welcoming a political victory in Ottawa.
When the Métis Nutcracker opens this weekend in St. Catharines, Ont., playwright Matthew MacKenzie hopes the audience will get swept away in the magical realism of the show – while also learning about colonialism, the war in Ukraine and the cultures of several Indigenous communities from Turtle Island.
School buses in several Chatham-Kent communities have been cancelled for Thursday morning.
Doug Ford has been talking about the Ring of Fire a lot.
The Canadian Hockey League says the Guelph Storm won their bid to host the 2027 Memorial Cup fairly.