Garbage, Recycling and Waste

Not everything can be recycled. For the items that cannot be reused or recycled, the Township provides a weekly household garbage collection.

Please follow the collection guidelines below:

• Households may place up to 4 garbage bags out for collection each week. 
• Garbage bags must each have a garbage tag. Garbage tags are available from local suppliers, and cost $2.25 each.
• Garbage bags must not exceed 26” x 36” and must not exceed 40 lbs each in weight. 
• Garbage bags may be placed in a garbage can and each bag in the can should have a garbage tag.
• Make sure your garbage tags are visible.
• Garbage bags may be placed in a garbage can for collection. Each bag in the can should weigh less than 40lbs and must display its own garbage tag.

You should not place any of the following items in your household garbage collection:

• Blue box recyclables (pop cans, glass bottles, etc.)
• Electronics
• Motor vehicle tires
• Used oil
• Leaf & yard waste (grass, leaves, and branches)
• Medical waste
• Batteries
• Low level radioactive waste
• Household hazardous waste (such as paint cans, aerosols, or propane cans)
• Liquid waste
• Sewage
• Asbestos
• Brick, rubble, soil, fill, etc.
• Root balls/stumps

Bag tags must be affixed to every and all Household Garbage Curbside collections. Tags are available for $2.25 at the Township Office, and the following locations:

Owen Sound

• Foodland
• Zehrs
• Metro
• Owen Sound Library
• Kwik Mart 14th and 6th Street
• Marine Convenience
• Giant Tiger
• Shopper's Drug Mart - both locations

Shallow Lake

• Allen's Mercantile
• Hepworth
• Cindy's Variety

Wiarton

• Foodland
• Daisy Mart
• Big Bay General Store
• Lloyd's Smoke Shop & Pool Hall

Other

• The Gas Barn
• Barry's Service Centre in Rockford
• Springmount Service Centre
• Kemble Post Office

Every two weeks, you can place one or more ‘Blue Boxes’ of recycling at the curbside alongside garbage bags for collection.

Please note that oversized blue boxes will not be accepted. Bagged recycling will also not be accepted. Please use blue boxeswith the dimensions of 2 feet tall by 18 inches wide. 

The following items can be placed in a Blue Box:

• Glass bottles and jars that were used for foods. Please remove lids and rinse clean containers.
• Aluminum and steel cans. Please rinse before recycling.
• Plastics. A wide array of clear plastics can be recycled. Black plastic (such as in some take out food containers) cannot be recycled. Check for the Plastic Type for recycling. Numbers 1, 2,3,4,5 and 7 can be placed in the Blue Box.
• Paint Cans. These must be completely empty with lids removed.
• Jerry Cans can be recycled if they are emptied and thoroughly rinsed, and cut into pieces.
• Newspaper and Paper. These can be placed in a Blue Box, or bundled next to, or placed in a paper bags alongside the Blue Box.
• Cardboard. Placed in a Blue Box, or bundled in bundles no more than 24” x 18” x 6”.
• Boxes. Please remove any plastic or polystyrene and flatten.

Things you cannot put in your Blue Box:

• No film plastics like shrink wrap or cling film.
• No scrap metal such a tire rims, copper pipe etc.
• No styrofoam
• Glass from drinking glasses, mirrors, windows, light bulbs etc.
• Bulky plastics such as buckets, toys, motor oil jugs, salt bags, etc.
• Batteries
• Aerosols
• Coat Hangers
• Paint cans with residue in them
• Paper products such as used tissues, wax paper, wrapping paper.

For more information, please visit the Recycle Right webpage.

Beginning January 1, 2026, the Province of Ontario will take full responsibility for managing residential Blue Box recycling collection across the province. Under this new producer-responsibility model, recycling collection for residential properties in Georgian Bluffs will continue as usual, however the change also brings a significant shift for non-residential properties.

Under the new provincial regulations, the government of Ontario will no longer be collecting recycling from industrial, commercial, and institutional (IC&I) properties, including new multi-residential buildings with six or more units in any Ontario municipalities. Existing multi-residential properties that have received curbside collection to date, will continue to receive collection.

Most IC&I and multi-residential properties in Georgian Bluffs already use private recycling services, and may not notice a change. However, those who have relied on Township curbside collection will need to make new arrangements before the January 1 cutoff.

Local Recycling Service Options

The Township is aware of two local commercial service providers who may be able to support your recycling needs:

• Waste Management – Mount Forest
  Phone: 519-323-4645
• Miller Waste – Owen Sound
  Phone: 519-372-1855

We encourage you to reach out to these companies, or others, directly if you are impacted to discuss service options, pricing, and collection schedules. 

For questions about the province’s recycling system or the producer-responsibility model, visit the Circular Materials Ontario website, or contact Circular Materials at customerservice@circularmaterials.ca or 1-877-667-2626.

Sometimes, garbage and/or recycling may not be collected. This can be inconvenient, and the Township apologizes for any disruption this may cause. There are a number of reasons this might occur.

• Check your bag or blue box for a ‘Oops Tag’. Oops tags are left on garbage or recycling that cannot be collected. This might be because items were too heavy to be collected, or the wrong items were placed in a Blue Box.  If you got a Oops Tag, please bring your garbage/recycling back to the house, correct the issue and place out on your next scheduled collection day.
• If your garbage/recycling was placed at the curbside by 7 a.m. on your collection day, and was put out following our Collection Guidelines, your collection may have been accidentally missed. This might be as a result of staffing pressures, equipment issues, or weather-related challenges. Unfortunately, sometimes things happen that mean collection cannot be completed as we all hope.
• If this has happened to you, please Report the missed pickup through ContactGB. This will forward your information directly to the relevant staff, and you will be provided a case number to track your inquiry for follow up.