The City of Toronto will continue yard waste collection for another two weeks from April 20 to May 1 to accommodate residents. The start of seasonal yard waste collection was suspended in March as part of the City’s COVID-19 response to ensure adequate staffing levels to continue the core collection of garbage, blue bin (recycling) and green bin (organics).
The City recently resumed yard waste collection for a two-week trial period from April 6 to 17 and has determined that it can continue to provide the service for an additional two weeks. In the last nine days, the City has collected approximately 5,700 tonnes of yard waste. After these additional two weeks, the City will assess if it can continue to collect yard waste.
Residents are asked to put their yard waste out before 7 a.m. on their regularly scheduled garbage/yard waste collection day. If yard waste is not picked up on collection day, residents are asked to leave it out until it’s collected. It is not necessary to call 311 to report a missed collection.
If possible, residents should use a yard waste bag. Otherwise, a rigid open-top container can be used. Brush and branches should be secured in bundles no longer than 1.2 metres (4 feet), no wider than 0.6 metres (two feet) and no heavier than 20 kilograms (44 lbs).
A reminder to residents that the following Solid Waste Management Services continue to be impacted, to ensure the health and safety of residents and staff and sustain operations:
• Drop-off depots are closed to the general public. Only those with an existing registered account can continue to bring material to Depots. No new account requests will be processed at this time. Cash will not be accepted and depots will not operate on Saturdays.
• Toxic Taxi services and household hazardous waste drop-off are suspended. Hazardous waste should be safely stored until services resume.
• Bin exchanges are suspended. Existing service requests will be completed once full service resumes. Bin repair and missing bin requests will continue to be processed.
• All community Environment Days scheduled in April, May and June have been cancelled.
The collection of garbage, recycling, organics, and oversized and metal items has not been impacted and will continue as scheduled.
For more information about the COVID-19 impacts to Solid Waste Management Services visit https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/affected-city-services/?accordion=garbage-recycling-and-organics.
The City’s website is updated daily with the latest health advice and information about City services, social supports, and economic recovery measures. Check https://www.toronto.ca/covid-19/ for answers to common questions before contacting the Toronto Public Health COVID-19 Hotline or 311.
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“We are doing everything we can as a municipal government to continue to provide essential and critical services for Toronto residents at this time. We know that yard waste collection is an important service our residents rely on at this time of year. Thank you to our frontline Solid Waste Management Services staff who continue to provide important services during the ongoing pandemic response.”
– Mayor John Tory
Toronto is home to more than 2.9 million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada’s leading economic engine and one of the world’s most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture and innovation, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit http://www.toronto.ca or follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/CityofToronto, on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/cityofto.