What Are the 5 Most Difficult Materials to Recycle in Toronto – See the List
When it’s filling up a recycling box and leaving it at the side of the road, recycling’s so easy. Unfortunately, not everything recyclable fits neatly into a box and some normally recyclable materials may not even be accepted in a city’s recycling program. Suddenly, recycling gets overly complex and confusing, especially if you’ve recently moved to Toronto.
There’s a short list of recyclable items that aren’t the easiest to recycle in Toronto, due to size constraints, difficulty in arranging pick-up, or a lack of recycling facilities to begin with. For each, we’ve highlighted a solution to making the most of having these waste materials. Just because you have one of these, don’t be discouraged. There’s almost always a way to recycle!
Paint
Paint is not a waste product you can leave at the road. If you have old paint in the garage, look for depots or recycling facilities in Toronto that process hazardous materials. There are several locations across the GTA ready to accept such materials.
Mattresses
One of the worst things we see at the end of the road are mattresses. They’re difficult to recycle due to their many components and the likelihood that they could have bed bugs. Especially in Toronto, mattress recycling isn’t really a thing. That said, if you are sure yours is clean, post an ad on Craigslist, Kijiji, Facebook Classifieds, or somewhere else. See if you can give it to someone in need. We can almost guarantee that in a city like Toronto, with over 100,000 people moving all over any given season, someone will take your mattress.
Oil & antifreeze
If you have old oil and antifreeze, return them to any of the depots in Toronto. They are also accepted by some retailers such as participating Canadian Tire stores. As with other recycling materials like this, ensure the oil or antifreeze is in a firmly closed container.
Tires
Old tires can be tough to get rid of. Some you may be able to sell on classified ads if they’re reusable. If they’re not, there are several stakeholders in the GTA willing to accept it. Some corporate retailers will even take them off your hands. You may research retailers close to you to see which one accepts tires. Though it may take some time to find the information, for tires, fortunately you can still recycle in Toronto.
Pesticides or flammables
Leftover pesticides or flammables are incredibly difficult to get rid of. If you have some left in a shed or garage, there are collection sites in the GTA to drop off these items. These are the same locations you would bring your paint. Thankfully, there is no charge for dropping off pesticides or flammables and you can guarantee they will be properly handled, prior to disposal.
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These may be the most difficult materials to recycle in Toronto but where there’s a will, there’s a way. We hope to see things change in the future but for now, it’s up to the consumer to search out recycling depots and waste management facilities for pick-up of otherwise unrecyclable materials. Toronto’s fortunate to have a growing network of waste management stakeholders, recyclers, and more facilities being built by the year. For our environment as well as safety of human health, it’s well worth taking the time to find out where to recycle a given material or item.
