Recycling container take back program ending April 15

Recycling bins left out at the curb outside a home in Windsor. (Source: Kimberley Johnson/AM800)

Time is running out to get rid of your old or unwanted red and blue boxes and incompatible recycling carts for free.

The Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority (EWSWA) is offering a “Recycling Container Take Back Program” at its depots until April 15.

The goal is to take any unwanted or incompatible blue/red boxes and recycling carts for free so that they can be properly recycled and not end up in the landfills.

EWSWA spokesperson Cat Griffin says they know there are a lot of old recycling boxes and carts out there.

“A lot of these are big pieces of plastic, and they should be recycled. We want to make sure they don’t end up in our landfill and are recycled properly so they can go back into the system in the recycling loop,” she said.

As of Jan. 1, Circular Materials, a national not-for-profit organization, has been fully responsible for operating Ontario’s recycling program in a new single-stream recycling collection system that will allow all recyclables to be put into one bin.

Circular Materials says only the new blue carts from GFL Environmental can be collected because they are the only ones that are compatible with the new automated cart collection system, which means the older small bins and Herby Curby carts will not be collected for recycling.

Griffin says they’ve already collected a lot of these items.

“We’ve collected from when the program started on January 15 to the end of March, about 6.1 tonnes, which is around 13,500 pounds, so that’s a lot,” she said.

Recycle boxes/carts must be empty (free of materials) to drop off at these three EWSWA depots:

• Public Drop Off (Windsor): 3560 North Service Rd. E. (on the corner of E.C. Row and Central)
• Transfer Station #2 (Kingsville): 2021 Albuna Townline
• Regional Recycling Depot (Essex): 7700 County Rd. 18