The Battle of the Blue Bins

When Shelburne residents started asking questions about “just how big” the new lidded blue recycling bins from the province were going to be, town councillor Len Guchardi decided to demonstrate: He climbed into one of the bins at town hall to show residents their true size. “They’re big, but they’re still manageable,” says Guchardi, a Shelburne business owner and early recipient of the bigger bins in October 2025. “It could take a couple of weeks to fill up, and I think that’s part of how we have to look at the bigger picture.” 

Still, not everyone welcomes the mandatory bin switch. When Orangeville mayor Lisa Post announced the recycling program update on social media in November, residents expressed concerns about storing and moving the new wheeled bins, especially in winter. Gail Harper Brown, who lives in Mono, says the new rules have taken many by surprise because it’s not a “one-size-fits-all issue.” She sympathizes with townhome dwellers whose “driveway space is at a premium” and disabled or elderly residents who might struggle to manage the large carts.

Orangeville resident Catherine Fowler wonders how she’ll cope with the bigger bins, which come in two sizes: 240 litres and 360 litres. She’s currently recovering from a car accident and has lifting restrictions. According to the illustration from Circular Materials, the empty 240-litre bin weighs in at 15 to 17 kg, while the larger 360-litre bin weighs 18 to 20 kg. “It’s not right to implement these large bins and expect people who just can’t manage them to drag them to their curb,” Fowler says, adding that she’ll have to submit a “special accommodations” request to have her bins moved by the recycling truck driver on pickup days. 

Others see some benefits of the switch. Matthew Smith, an Orangeville resident who plans to run for council this year, expects it will be easier to recycle bulky items like cardboard, which “won’t act like a sail on windy days.” The municipal employee notes he’ll no longer need to buy blue bags, since all recycling must be placed in the bins; however, he shares the concern that many people won’t have room for the large carts. 

What is the enhanced Blue Box program? 

The transition to the larger recycling bins has been in the works since 2021. The province of Ontario changed the Blue Box regulation, shifting the financial and operational responsibility for recycling from municipalities to the producers of packaging and paper products. 

The new program also expands the list of recyclable items to include those previously destined for the trash. This includes hot and cold beverage cups, foam packaging for raw meat, takeout containers, pizza boxes, ice cream tubs, plastic overwrap packaging, toothpaste tubes and deodorant containers. 

Allen Langdon is the chief executive officer of Circular Materials, the nonprofit organization established in 2021 to administer the new province-wide, producer-funded recycling program. According to Langdon, Ontario represents “the largest recycling transition ever undertaken in Canada.” The Circular Materials website also states that the new program is estimated to collectively save Ontario municipalities more than $200 million in costs. 

The rollout, which began in January 2026, got off to a rocky start as many communities, including Caledon and Toronto, experienced delays of up to seven days in their regular pickup service. “Some residents experienced early challenges,” admits Langdon, citing the transition to new bins and collection schedules, as well as weather-related delays and a higher post-holiday volume as some of the reasons. 

Adding up the true costs 

Environmentalists have raised concerns about the effectiveness of the new Blue Box program.  Ashley Wallis, associate director at Environmental Defence, a Canadian environmental advocacy organization, says that shifting the recycling costs to the companies that created the packaging should result in production changes and waste reduction. However, because provincial recycling targets have actually been lowered, “there’s little incentive for companies to manage more than the bare minimum,” she adds.

Wallis cites flexible plastics, which are now allowed in the blue bins, as examples. Turning plastic bags into more plastic is costly, she explains, whereas it’s “incredibly cheap” to produce new plastics from virgin materials. “Our concern,” she adds, is that “companies will choose to recycle the things that are easiest to recycle” and send the rest to the landfill or incinerator, which would still be well within regulation.

Environmental Defence is also advocating for Ontario to follow other provinces and introduce an expanded deposit-return system for aluminum, plastic and glass drink containers. These are the “more valuable materials” that currently go in the blue bin, Wallis says. Yet in Ontario, less than 50 per cent of beverage containers are recycled.

Preparing for the switch

Though the enhanced recycling program is province-wide, Circular Materials relies on a network of local collection partners, including GFL Environmental for Dufferin County and Peel Region, and Waste Management for Wellington County. Rather than the drivers collecting the smaller blue bins, recycling trucks will now pick up the bigger bins using mechanical arms. 

And while the larger carts might be new to many municipalities, they’ve been in regular use in one area for over a decade: The big blue bins were introduced to the Town of Caledon in 2016 as part of Peel Region’s recycling system. Residents of Dufferin County are set to receive their new bins by March, and use will be mandatory as of April 1. In the Town of Erin, residents will continue to use the smaller bins. 

What do you think of the new recycling program? Are you excited about the larger blue bins, or do you have concerns? Let us know in the comments section below.