Will your Recycling end up being Recycled and where does it go Once it leaves the Curb

In the last decade, Toronto recycling programs have focused on taking waste from the curb through to repurposing operations. If you’ve ever wanted to know what happens once your recycling leaves the curb and where it goes, let us share.

Toronto’s recycling program\ is available to all citizens. Detached households, semi-detached homes, apartments, and condo developments all are subject to garbage and recycling standards. Despite the availability of recycling, not all apartments and condo complexes do just that. As a matter of fact, we’ve seen several apartment buildings across the GTA in the last decade who have not made an effort to collect recycling and instead, opting for a single garbage pick-up. If your property manager is not interested in registering for recycling, that creates a very difficult situation for tenants who want to recycle.

So the next question on the list after availability is identifying what you can recycle. Things like paper, plastics, glass, and metal are all recyclable in Toronto. Paint cans, ceramics, and styrofoam food containers are not. Plastic grocery bags are not due to the type of plastic used and their ability to get caught in the recycling sorting equipment used at Toronto facilities. Household items like batteries, light bulbs, and paint also come with special restrictions. Bulkier items like couches, mattresses, and other furniture are best being collected curbside by a Toronto junk removal service. There’s a lot of thought that has been given to Toronto’s recycling program, despite how imperfect it may seem.

Now, a big question we receive is how much of Toronto’s recycling actually ends up being recycled. The retrieval trucks that pick up recycling in the GTA are more or less the same as garbage trucks. Now, recycling has many financial benefits to it, which evidently makes it a big priority for the city. Toronto pays for what it has to deliver to landfills and with limited space, there’s some incentive there to recycle. The various recycling facilities used in and around Toronto also make profit from selling what they sort. The more that it can collect and sell, the more money made.

Though the financial rewards are well stated, recycling in Toronto is not perfect. There is still a lot of cross-contamination of materials, which renders otherwise recyclable materials to non-recyclables. Waste diversion rates are respectable however they are not perfect either. There are a lack of facilities to handle some materials which are recyclable and that has resulted in only being able to collect certain items.

After materials have been collected, they are sent to a local recycling processing plant where tons are processed every day. Cardboard, plastics, mixed paper, glass, and metal are sorted. They are then compacted into large bales before being sent to mills to process them into new materials, which range from everything from cereal boxes to bottles. When prices for these commodities are high, taxpayers benefit. When they are low, it can present some issues related to the financial rewards of recycling.

If you are interested in recycling in Toronto or waste management, Core Mini Bins would love to connect you with the right resources to minimize your waste footprint. Speak with a representative today for more information on how to maximize your recycling with a company you can trust!