GFL delivering new recycling bins to homes starting Sunday

THUNDER BAY — A new recycling program will be starting this summer, and it begins with the delivery of new containers to homes starting May 5.

The new automated cart system will officially start on July 1, and the manager of solid waste and recycling services, Jason Sherband, is telling residents not to use the new bins until that date. 

"The big thing coming here is as of July 1, GFL Environmental will be implementing a new automated recycling cart system here in the city, which will replace the current blue bag system."

GFL will start delivering carts to all residences on May 5 and continue until all homes are outfitted with the new split containers before the new program start date in July. 

The city will no longer be operationally and financially responsible for the residential recycling program in the community. The responsibility for collection and recycling of Blue Box materials will be on producers.

Each home will receive one large 360-litre bin on wheels with a divider in the middle. The containers will have a blue and black flip lid, which will continue with the city's split recycling streams.

Residents will keep separating approved plastics from paper products and put them in the designated separate areas of the containers. 

Blue recycling bags will no longer be accepted for curbside pickup, effective July 1. 

The split container system that will be used in Thunder Bay is modelled after Sault Ste. Marie's program. 

Each bin will also be labelled with an RFID tag that will be assigned to each address. This means the container belongs to the address, not the resident, and will remain at the home if someone moves. 

When it comes to multi-unit residences, Sherband said those changes will lay with GFL. 

"GFL is looking into that sector to switch over to either carts or what we would call 'front-end bins,' which are bins that you would see at our recycling depots, those style of bins being in multi-residential buildings.

"They're going to be working with property managers and building owners over the next few months to sort of transition that sector as well."

Circular Materials and GFL Environmental will manage the program as of the July 1 start date. Instead of contacting the city, anyone with questions or concerns will be directed to those companies. 

While the province has mandated the changes across Ontario, GFL is implementing the use of carts six months ahead of the 2025 deadline. 

Sherband said the city's curbside garbage, recycling, and composting program will continue to undergo significant changes over the next two years. 

"We're also going to be implementing a food and organic waste, or a green bin program here, which will be in carts. It's going to be automated as well.

"So eventually, every resident is going to have three bins at the end of the driveway — garbage, recycling, and organics."