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 The Yellow Bag Program – launched in September 2002 -- is a waste management initiative that encourage Toronto’s commercial customers to decrease garbage while increasing recycling and organics collection.
Retailer for yellow bags and tags
Residential garbage bag tags and commercial yellow garbage bags will be sold at Toronto Canadian Tire stores.
Thanks to our commercial customers, the Yellow Bag Program is making a difference in meeting the City’s waste diversion goals.
Why did
the City start the Yellow Bag Program?
The Yellow Bag Program has four goals:
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to reduce
garbage and to increase recycling and organic collection
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to create
a harmonized, fair service for businesses across the City
and
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to assist
with the costs of garbage collection and disposal
To locate the Canadian Tire store nearest you, and for store hours, please
consult the business
listings in the Toronto telephone directory or call 1-800-387-8803.
Since the City-owned
Keele Valley landfill site closed on December 31, 2002, all the
City's garbage is trucked to a private landfill in Michigan. Closing
Toronto's landfill site increased disposal costs by more than 300
per cent. Additionally, the City is vulnerable to service interruption
if, for any reason the truck traffic to the landfill is interrupted.
Most importantly,
the City has an obligation to send as little of its waste to
other cities and towns as possible. This can be accomplished
by diverting as much recyclable material and organics from the
garbage as possible. Businesses can minimize garbage collection
costs by diverting recyclable materials and/or organics from
the garbage stream.
There is a
wide disparity in the demand for the City's services. Some businesses
previously cost the City up to $100,000 / year due to the amount
of waste they generate, while others cost the City a few hundred
dollars per year. Also, with the amalgamation of the six former
municipalities that provided different services according to
different criteria, the access to City service varied greatly
across the City. The program was designed to harmonize the commercial
waste services and make them fair.
History
On March 7, 2002, City Council approved The Yellow Bag Program. The City developed this policy incorporating feedback from current customers and Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) – received through public meetings, discussion groups and more than 1,500 completed surveys – about service areas, collection frequency and service fees. Based on public input, the City is offering collection of both recyclable materials and organics at no charge at a base frequency. This provides the opportunity to significantly reduce garbage collection fees while increasing diversion.
Questions?
Got a question about the Yellow Bag Program? Want to request
an application form? Need more information? Want to order a
bin? Just give us a call or email:
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