Every year, the City of Toronto manages approximately 450,000 tonnes of garbage. This requires money, energy, and resources and takes up limited landfill space. The City’s Long Term Waste Management Strategy highlights the importance of reusing, recycling and most importantly reducing waste as the less waste that is produced, the less there is to manage.
Garbage is collected and brought to one of the City’s transfer stations. From there, it is loaded onto bigger tractor-trailers and hauled to the City-owned Green Lane Landfill in Southwold Township, Ontario for safe and environmentally sustainable disposal.
The City does not accept coffee pods in its Blue Bin recycling or Green Bin organics programs. All coffee pods, including those that are labelled or marketed as recyclable or compostable, must be disposed of in the garbage or returned to retailers/manufacturers who have take-back programs.
The City of Toronto commissioned research related to disposal of single-serve coffee and tea pods. The findings include feedback from Toronto residents about use, attitudes and disposal behaviours.
The City does not accept the following items marketed or labelled as compostable or biodegradable in its Green Bin organics or Blue Bin recycling programs:
These items, which may be made of or lined with a bio-based plastic, must be disposed of in the garbage. Alternatively, products can be returned to retailers/manufacturers who have take-back programs.