Recycling Changes

Circular Materials (CM), a non-profit organization oversees the collection of recyclable materials from homes, residential buildings, and the residential portions of mixed commercial and residential properties across Ontario. All municipalities in Ontario 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 took over the delivery of residential recycling collection services previously 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:

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.

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.

Visit the Circular Materials website for details.

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.

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: