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Set out

All items must be to the curb by 7 a.m. for collection

Place your Garbage Bin or Blue Bin a half-metre (approximately 2 feet) away from your Green Bin or yard waste. There should be 3 metres (10 feet) of clearance above the bin for the mechanical lift arm used in automated collection.

Winter set out

Find a clearly visible and accessible area to put your bins out for collection. Put bins as close as possible to the street, without obstructing it. Do not place the bins behind or on snow banks or on the road as they will get in the way of snow plows clearing your street. If you wish, you may clear an area for the bins to be set out.

Electronics

Electronic waste is collected curbside. In addition, items may be dropped off at several of our Drop-Off Depots. There is no charge to dispose of electronic waste.

Garbage

If you have more garbage than will fit in your bin, you can leave extra garbage bags beside the Garbage Bin for collection. To expect collection of extra garbage bags, you must attach a City-issued bag tag to each garbage bag. Garbage bag tags can be purchased in packages of five for $15.50 ($3.10 each) at your local Canadian Tire store.

If you frequently have overflow of garbage, perhaps you need a larger size Garbage Bin. To arrange an exchange, call 311 or request online - your annual fee will be adjusted accordingly.

Green Bin

Is your Green Bin filling up and overflowing each week? Put excess material in a see-through bag and place it beside the Green Bin (no special bag is required as long as it's see-through, but please use one large bag instead of many small ones). We recommend that you put non-food waste (e.g. diapers, animal waste) in this bag and place it out by 7 a.m. the morning of collection. There is no item limit for Green Bin organics, provided each item weighs no more than 20 kg (approximately 44 lbs.). Green bin collection is weekly.

You can purchase a second Green Bin at Container Pick-up Locations or at a Community Environment Day.

Co-collection vehicles

Curbside Collection – Semi-automated vehicles

One of the collection crew brings the bin to the back of the vehicle and the arm lifts the bin to dump the materials. Green Bin material goes into a separate compartment.

Curbside Collection – Fully-automated vehicles

A mechanical arm grabs the bin and lifts it to the top of the vehicle to empty the material. Green Bin material goes into a separate compartment.

Metal items

Place metal items such as appliances, barbeques (no propane tanks), bed frames, bicycles, furnaces, hot water heaters, metal bath tubs, storage sheds, etc. next to your Garbage Bin for free pick-up. No collection appointment is needed.

• Large metal items should be dismantled, bundled and/or tied.
• Remove doors from refrigerators, oven and other appliances.
• Non-metal parts, such as bicycle seats, go in your Garbage Bin.

• Sofa beds

  It is not necessary to separate the metal frame from the sofa. For safety reasons, the frame should be tied to void it from springing open.

Set out

• Non-metal parts, such as bicycle seats and tires, go in your Garbage Bin.
• For safety, remove doors and locks from fridges, freezers, ovens and other appliances.

Oversized items

Items can be left next to your Garbage Bin for free regular pick-up, without requiring tags or special arrangements. Check Waste Wizard for information about proper set out procedures for your item.

Place oversize items (Box springs, car seats, furniture, lamps, luggage, mattresses, patio furniture, skis, toilets, etc.) next to your Garbage Bin. Things that would never fit in your Garbage Bin, even when empty, are considered oversized. No tags or special arrangements are needed. The City collects these items in a separate truck for either reuse, recycling or dissembling at no cost and keeps them out of the landfill.

• Toilets

  Tanks must be removed from bowl.

• Carpeting, underpad and linoleum

  Items must be tied in rolls measuring no longer than 1.2 metres (4 feet) and weighing less than 20 kgs/44 lbs.

Set out

• Put oversized items 0.5 metre (2 feet) away from your Garbage Bin (not in it).
• Please take apart or separate large heavy items, if possible.

Note:   Bed Bugs - Salvage and disposal options Many people feel that throwing away an infested piece of furniture will get rid of bed bugs. This may reduce the number of bed bugs, but does not help the overall problem. Furniture should only be thrown out if it can no longer be used or properly cleaned. For proper set out procedures for items containing bed bugs, refer to Bed Bug Guidelines.

Other bulky items

Roll, cut and tie carpeting into bundles and place them out on your regular garbage collection day. Bundles must be no longer than 1.2 metres (4 ft.), weigh not more than 20 kg (approximately 44 lbs.). Have more than 20 kg?

Recycling

There is no item limit for recycling. If you occasionally have overflow with your recyclables, either leave it for next recycling collection or consider asking your neighbours if they have room in their Blue Bin. If you frequently have overflow, please exchange your bin for a larger one. To arrange an exchange, call 311 or request online.

Don't bag recycling
We want recycling placed in the bin loose so that each item can be sorted into a specific category.

Any items received at the sorting facility that are inside black or green "garbage" bags or opaque (non-clear) grocery/shopping bags are considered non-recyclable materials. These bags are not opened and the contents are not sorted.

In addition, when recycling material is bagged, any liquids from the containers cannot drain out. The liquids can stink and can contaminate the recycling sorting operation. When containers are placed in the recycling bin loose, any liquids can drain out before the material reaches the sorting facility.

Put items in loose
You can fit more in your Blue Bin because loose items take up less space.

• Use a reuseable bag or container to collect your recycling
• Tip loose recycling items into your Blue Bin
• Flatten containers such as cereal, detergent boxes, milk juice and soup cartons and corrugated cardboard boxes (do not flatten bottles)

Shredded paper
Put shredded paper in a clear plastic bag. 

Due to the small size of the pieces, shredded paper does not go through the same sorting procedure as the rest of the recycling materials. It needs to be contained in a clear bag so that when it is received at the sorting facility, the entire clear bag of shredded paper can be removed from the mix of items and carried to a different area containing the larger sized paper that has already been sorted by the machines. The clear bag of shredded paper is then opened and the contents emptied with the other paper to be shipped to market. 

Yard Waste

Yard waste must be set out at the curb in Kraft paper yard waste bags or rigid, open-topped containers (extra garbage can, bushel basket). No plastic bags and no grass clippings are allowed.

Secure brush and branches in bundles and set out at the curb on your yard waste collection day in accordance with your local collection calendar. Bundles must be no longer than 1.2 metres (4 ft.), no more than .9 metres (3 ft.) in diameter and weigh no more than 20 kg (approximately 44 lbs.). There is no item limit for yard waste.

Tree limbs, trunks and stumps

This type of waste is not collected or accepted at City's Drop-off Depots if the diameter of the wood exceeds 7.5 cm (3 inches).

For limbs, trunks and stumps of this size from other areas of the City please make arrangements with a private company specializing in handling this type of waste.

Grass clippings are not collected. See the grasscycle page for more information.

Christmas trees are collected in January. Check your calendar.

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW)

Household hazardous waste (propane tanks, syringes, household cleaners, paint, pesticides, batteries, etc.) is not collected curbside. Items can be dropped off at several Drop-Off Depots.

If you have between 10-50 litres/kilograms of household hazardous waste, call 311 or request online to make an appointment for the Toxic Taxi to pick-up from your home.

There is no charge for disposal or pick-up of household hazardous waste.

Renovation waste, scrap wood, lumber

Construction/renovation waste (including scrap wood and lumber) are not collected curbside. Please take this item to a Drop-off Depots. Some renovation material may still be useful. Check our reuse site.

Bricks, concrete, cinder blocks, paving stones, asphalt, soil, dirt, stones, etc. are not collected curbside or through other City of Toronto programs.
Please make arrangements with a company in the private sector
specializing in reusing or disposing of this type of material.

Tires

Rubber tires (rims removed), excluding heavy truck, forklift and large off-road tires are accepted at Bermondsey, Commissioners, Dufferin and Ingram Drop-Off Depots. Dufferin accepts loads over 150 kgs.

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