Collection

• Leave 7.5 centimetres or 3 inches at the top of your blue box.
• Do not overfill the blue box. Purchase additional boxes if needed.
• Flatten and cut down cardboard and bundle securely.

Acceptable Bins

• Blue boxes purchased from the City of Vaughan
• Similar sized blue boxes purchased at retail stores, 53 to 121 litres (14-32 gallons), with no attached lids or wheels. The total weight of any one container and contents must not exceed 20.5 kilograms (45 pounds).
• New! Large 121 litre (32 gallon) blue bins are now available for sale through Service Vaughan.

 Unacceptable containers 

• Cardboard boxes
• Plastic bags (any colour) and garbage containers
• Containers with attached or detachable lids 
• Wheeled containers and oversized containers  

What goes in the recycling bin?

 

• Antifreeze, windshield washer fluid, and other vehicle care containers
• Household cleaning bottles including detergent, bleach, and cleaner bottles under 15 litres
• Food tubs and lids including yogurt, ice cream and margarine containers
• Water bottles and beverage bottles
• Personal care product bottles including shampoo and dish soap bottles

• Pasta sauce, pickle, baby food, and jam jars
• Mason jars
• Beverage bottles (alcoholic beverage containers can be returned to a Beer Store)

• Aerosol cans and paint cans (empty and with lid removed)
• Aluminum foil, trays, and pie plates
• Pop cans and food and beverage cans and lids
• Metal lids

• Cardboard (flatten and tie in bundles with string, no larger than 0.6 metres x 0.6 metres x 0.3 metres (2 feet x 2 feet x 1 foot)
• Tetra Pak packages
• Milk and juice cartons and juice boxes (no straws)
• Boxboard including cereal boxes and shoe boxes
• Spiral-wound containers such as Pillsbury dough, frozen juice, or Pringles
• Toilet paper and paper towel rolls
• Egg cartons

• Office paper
• Books (remove hard covers)
• Brown paper bags
• Newspapers (remove plastic sleeve)
• Flyers, magazines, and mail

• Do not put recycling in bags. No plastic bags are allowed in the Blue Box.
• Empty and rinse out all food and beverage containers.
• Styrofoam goes in the garbage.
• Single-use items such as masks, gloves, coffee cups, coffee pods, and wipes belong in the garbage.
• Facial tissues, paper towels, and napkins belong in the green bin.
• Not all items are recyclable, even if they have the recycling symbol on it. Download the City’s Recycle Coach app or use the online search tool to find out where an item belongs. 

Frequently asked questions 

• Based on resident feedback through a service level review process, the majority of respondents confirmed support for the current manual blue box collection service. They would not support automated cart collection based on cost.  
• The City of Vaughan does not use carts with wheels for a variety of reasons:
• Carts require a significant capital investment and have ongoing maintenance and growth requirements. 
• The carts program is generally serviced less frequently compared to the City’s current schedule, resulting in a service reduction for Vaughan residents. 
• The recycling carts require an alternative system for material that does not fit into the cart (large cardboard, extra material).   
• With the cart-based programs, contamination is a large issue. Non-recyclables are put into the recycling carts resulting in issues with collection and sorting.