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. Blue boxes can be purchased from the Township offices in Springmount for $14.00.

Please note that oversized blue boxes will not be accepted. Bagged recycling will also not be accepted. Please use the blue boxes provided by the Township office, or of comparable size (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.
• 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.

The Blue Box program is evolving in Ontario! As part of the commitment to increase recycling rates from the current 30% - 40% to at least 60% - 90%, the Blue Box program will be changing to make the producers of materials responsible for their collection and processing. This will help reduce the amount of materials going to landfill and increase the amount of recycling that occurs.

Starting in 2023, communities started to transition to this new Blue Box system. The Township of Georgian Bluffs will be transitioning starting in October 2023.

By January, 2026, all Blue Box programs will no longer be run by local municipalities but will be managed and collected by a non-profit company called Circular Materials Ontario, CMO. CMO will be responsible for collecting Blue Box materials from residences across Ontario, and it will most likely be undertaken via a third-party contractor on their behalf.

What will change for me?

To start with, nothing. In 2023, 2024 and 2025, the Township will continue to provide curbside recycling services as it does currently, under contract with Waste Management Services. Residents will continue to see the same items collected in Blue Boxes and will see these collected from the curbside every two weeks. The Township will receive a payment from CMO for continuing to provide this service.

In January, 2026, CMO will assume responsibility for delivering this service to residents. Between 2023 and 2026, CMO will work with the Township to make sure residents are aware of any changes to their services. 

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.