Plastic

• Bottles, jars, jugs, tubs, and other plastic packaging that previously contained food & beverage, health & beauty, or household cleaning & laundry products. e.g. Rigid clear & coloured packaging containers such as pop, water, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, bleach, windshield washer fluid, shampoo, detergent, kitty litter, salad dressing, medicine / vitamins (types with screw top lids), spirits, ice cream, margarine, yogurt, veggie dip, lotion, vegetable oil, clear egg cartons, frozen food trays, cookie trays, cake & bakery trays
• Motor oil and pesticide containers, plastic bags, Styrofoam, prescription vials/bottles, reusable plastic food containers, planting pots/trays, shrink wrap, toys, plates, laundry baskets, meat trays, hangers, cutlery, milk/juice cartons, drink boxes

Tetra paks and drink cartons

• Milk, cream, juice, and soup containers

Glass

• Clear & coloured food & beverage container packaging, such as pickle, mayonnaise, salad dressing, pop, juice, wine, beer, spirits
• Drinking glasses, plates, coffee cups, window glass, ceramics, light bulbs, mirrors, any broken glass

Aluminum

• Disposable baking pans, fruit cups, oven liners, fast food trays (not lids), beer cans
• Pots & pans, aerosol & paint cans, hangers, cutlery, scrap metal, snack/chip bags

Steel

• Food & beverage container packaging, such as tuna cans, vegetable cans, pet food cans, pop cans, coffee tins, soup cans
• Pots & pans, aerosol & paint cans, hangers, cutlery, scrap metal, snack/chip bags

Paper

• Newspapers & flyers, magazines & catalogues, phone books and directories, clean paper egg cartons and clean take-out trays, fine paper (e.g. envelopes, computer paper, soft/hard covered books, index cards, file folders, reports, paper bags, sticky notes, flyers & junk mail, etc.)
• Laminated papers, any papers with foreign materials attached, paper cups, paper towels, toilet paper, wooden orange crates, carbon paper, photographic paper, blueprint paper, facial tissue, thermal fax paper, art work, cards (with foil, plastic, ribbon or lamination)

Boxboard

• Cereal boxes, toilet paper rolls, pop boxes, cigarette packages, toothpaste boxes, tissue boxes, soap boxes, frozen food boxes, paper ice cream containers
• Bristol board, construction paper

Cardboard

• Corrugated cardboard, clean pizza boxes and other boxes with a wavy layer between two layers of linerboard
• Waxy boxboard

Bags and Packaging

• Gift wrap, gift bags, tissue paper, frozen food packaging, juice/milk/soup cartons (gable-top packaging) or boxes (aseptic packaging), candy wrappers, ice cream containers

Styrofoam

• Styrofoam packing materials,
  P-nuts, fast-food containers, egg cartons, plates or cups

Contact information

Solid Waste Services Division
Engineering Services Department
P - 519-837-2601
T - 1-866-899-0248
F - 519-837-8138

General Information

All residents in the County of Wellington have access to blue box recycling at no charge.

Curb/roadside collection is provided to residents and businesses in "urban" areas and in rural Erin and rural Guelph/Eramosa. Curb/roadside collection is not provided in any other rural areas. All residents (rural and urban) can take blue box recyclables to any County waste facility.

If you are unsure if you receive curb/roadside collection, contact SWS. Rural households and businesses may use the disposal and blue box recycling services at any County waste facility or hire a private waste hauler. Locate private haulers in the yellow pages under headings such as "Rubbish Removal."

Blue box materials are collected at the curb/road in two streams: Containers and Paper Products (including Corrugated Cardboard). At waste facilities, blue box materials are collected in three streams: Containers, Paper Products and Corrugated Cardboard. It is essential that all materials be prepared and separated properly to help improve operational efficiencies and to ensure that the recyclables are in a suitable condition for processing and the end markets.

Do's and Don'ts

Containers

• Empty and rinse (to remove product residue).
• Remove plastic screw-top lids, spray tops, pumps and foil, and dispose of in the garbage.
• Remove plastic lids from tubs (such as margarine containers) and metal lids, rinse, and place with Container recyclables.
• Labels do not need to be removed.
• Place Containers loose, (preferably not in plastic grocery bags).
• Push/place the top of tin cans (e.g., soup and vegetables) into the inside of the cans (as many tops will have sharp edges).
• Do not place any sharp objects with your recyclables, such as broken glass, needles, knives, etc.

Paper products:

• Place paper products loose (preferably not in plastic grocery bags).
• Oily, dirty and soiled Paper Products are not recyclable.
• Remove plastic wrap and other foreign materials, and place in garbage. (Staples do not need to be removed.)
• Remove hard covers and plastic/metal spines, and place them in the garbage.
• Remove plastic or metallic liners and food residue, and place them in the garbage.

We DO NOT collect

The following wastes are not acceptable for collection through the curb/roadside blue box and user pay garbage collection programmes (in "urban" areas and in rural Guelph/Eramosa and rural Erin). Please contact SWS if you have any questions.

Sharp Objects
Including any material with a jagged, sharp or pointed edge that is capable of cutting or puncturing (such as broken or pane glass, broken ceramics, knives or razor blades, needles or syringes). Click here for information on residential medical sharps disposal and preparation and click here for non-medical sharps disposal instructions (for residents and businesses).