Recycling Changes
Recycling pick-up will transition to a new Provincial program, run by their contractor Circular Materials, as of December 31, 2025. Circular Materials is delivering new 360-litre recycling cart to all EG homes. Please do not use these until January 2026.
Effective December 31, 2025, the Town is no longer responsible for or involved in the municipal recycling program. The province has privatized recycling through a not-for-profit called Circular Materials (CM). This change is part of Ontario’s Extended Producer Responsibility model as mandated by (O. Reg. 391/21: BLUE BOX).
The Town will continue to collect garbage, green bin and yard waste, metal goods and CM will collect and process recycling.
| Update from the Northern 6 (N6) Mayors |
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The N6 Mayors met with Circular Materials on November 14, 2025, regarding feedback from residents and potential next steps. Following that meeting, CM has committed to working with its collection contractor to launch an application for residents to request different sized carts to accommodate their needs. Details on this application process will be shared once available. Until the end of 2025, please continue to follow EG’s current recycling schedule and use your existing blue bins. |
| Contact Circular Materials |
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For more information about this transition, please visit Circular Material’s website. Residents are encouraged to provide their feedback to Circular Materials at customerservice@circularmaterials.ca or by phone at 1-877-667-2626.
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| Changes to Residential Recycling |
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New recycling carts – Each home will receive a 360-litre wheeled cart for their recycling. Cart delivery has begun. At this time, each home will only receive one cart. Please do not use it until January 2026. Currently, CM has indicated that at this time this is the only bin available, however they are working with its collection contractor to roll out an application process for residents to request different sized carts to accommodate their needs. Details on this application process will be shared once available. Residents are encouraged to reuse and repurpose their old blue bins. If you wish to recycle your blue bins, drop them off at the EG Operations Centre (19850 Woodbine Ave.) or Georgina Transfer Station (23068 Warden Ave.) in January 2026. Bins will be recycled for free. Bi-weekly collection - Recycling will be collected every other week on your collection day using the new cart the week of January 6, 2026. No recycling collection will occur during the week of December 28 to January 2, 2026 to support the transition to bi-weekly collections. Cart collection will begin the week of January 6, 2026. Items added to recycling - Coffee cups and other plastic-lined paper, beverage cups, black plastic containers, frozen juice containers, ice cream tubs, deodorant and toothpaste tubes can be recycled. |
As part of the transition, Questions?
To learn more about the new recycling program, please visit the CM website, email customerservice@circularmaterials.ca or call 1-877-667-2626.
Frequently Asked Questions
| When will my recycling be collected? |
| Until the end of 2025, please continue to follow EG’s current recycling schedule and use your existing blue bins. Recycling will be collected every other week on your scheduled collection day beginning the week of January 6, 2026. |
| How is the Blue Box program changing? |
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Circular Materials (CM), a non-profit organization will oversee the collection of recyclable materials from homes, residential buildings, and the residential portions of mixed commercial and residential properties across Ontario. By January 1, 2026, all municipalities in Ontario will have fully transitioned to this new producer responsibility collection system, marking a significant shift toward greater accountability and sustainability in waste management. Effective December 31, 2025, CM will take over the delivery of residential recycling collection services currently managed by East Gwillimbury. The contractor responsible for recycling collection is Green For Life (GFL). East Gwillimbury continues to maintain responsibility for the curbside collection of:
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| Why are these changes happening? |
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The Government of Ontario introduced legislation that transforms the management and collection of Blue Box materials in the province. The Blue Box Regulation, enacted under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, is a cornerstone of Ontario’s Strategy for a Waste Free Ontario: Building the Circular Economy. This regulation shifts the current cost-sharing model, which divides expenses between municipal taxpayers and producers of Blue Box materials, to a new system where producers are fully responsible for funding, operating, and meeting performance targets for the recycling program. Producers will be accountable for collecting and recycling Blue Box materials, reporting to the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA), and achieving progressively higher recycling targets. By placing the full financial, operational, and performance responsibility on producers, this new approach creates a direct incentive to minimize waste and enhance recycling efforts, leading to reduced natural resource extraction, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. |
| What do I do with my old blue box? |
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After December 31, 2025, you are encouraged to reuse your Blue Boxes around your home. They could be used for storage, transferring recycling from inside the home to the recycling cart, and so much more. Residents can also drop off unwanted Blue Boxes during the month of January in 2026 to the East Gwillimbury Operations Centre (19850 Woodbine Ave.) or the Georgina Transfer Station (23068 Warden Ave.) to be recycled (for free). |
| Where do I store my recycling cart? |
| Recycling carts can be stored in your garage, beside the house, or wherever they make sense for you. Recycling carts cannot be stored curbside and must only be placed out on your scheduled collection day. |
| Are there different sized recycling carts? |
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At this time, Circular Materials has indicated that only the 360 litre cart is available. The Mayors of the N6 are actively working with CM to provide alternate sized cart options. For further information, contact Circular Materials at customerservice@circularmaterials.ca or 1-877-667-2626. |
| Can I use my Blue Box instead? |
| Effective December 31, 2025, Blue Boxes will no longer be accepted for curbside collection in East Gwillimbury. |
| What do I do with recycling that won’t fit inside my recycling cart? |
| All recyclable materials for collection must be placed inside the recycling cart. For further information on this, please visit the Circular Materials website. |
| What to do if you have accessibility concerns or require assistance? |
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If you have an inquiry regarding the use of recycling carts or require assistance, please contact Circular Materials at customerservice@circularmaterials.ca or 1-877-667-2626. |
| Is there a limit to how many carts I can put out for collection? |
| For further information on this, please visit the Circular Materials website. |
| Who do I call if my cart is broken or needs replacing? |
| Call GFL at 1-833-779-4351 or email N6Recycling@gflenv.com |
| What can be collected as recycling now? |
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There will be an increased list of items accepted for recycling across all of Ontario. Learn more about items accepted in the new recycling program starting December 31, 2025 on the Circular Materials website. |
| What about Industrial, Commercial and Institutional customers? |
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In Ontario, Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (IC&I) waste is regulated separately from residential waste. Producers are not responsible for the collection or management of Blue Box material from the following ‘non-eligible’ sources:
For properties that have both residential and commercial units, producers are only required to collect from those units that are defined as an eligible source. Effective January 1, 2026, the Town’s recycling collection program for IC&I locations will be discontinued, and these properties will need to make alternate arrangements as they will not be serviced by Circular Materials as per the Ontario Government’s regulation. Garbage and organics collection will not be affected. As of January 1, 2026, all municipalities, including East Gwillimbury, will no longer manage recycling services and are not obligated to do so under the new Blue Box regulation. The potential costs to the Town to continue to provide recycling collection services to IC&I properties (non-eligible sources) would be significantly higher than current rates, adding a significant cost to taxpayers. Non-eligible sources represent a small fraction (1%) of total properties that receive recycling collection provided by the Town. |
Public Information Centre
EG hosted a Public Information Centre (PIC) on September 17 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the EG Civic Centre regarding Waste Collection changes in EG. The September 17 presentation slides are also available for review.
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Telephone 1-833-779-4351
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