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Video: Green Bin How To
For updates on curbside collection interruptions or cancellations, please go to our eNews page.
Curbside Collection Schedule
All households in the County receive weekly blue box and green bin collection, while garbage is collected every other week. Please use the table below to determine your collection day, and to see if you follow the Week A or the Week B schedule for your bi-weekly garbage collection.
Week A Collection Days |
Week B Collection Days |
Tuesday A - Mapleton, Salem, Elora (North of Grand River) |
Tuesday B - Minto |
Wednesday A - Centre Wellington (West of Hwy 6), Elora (South of Grand River) |
Wednesday B - Centre Wellington (East of Hwy 6) |
Thursday A - Erin | Thursday B - Wellington North |
Friday A - Guelph/Eramosa | Friday B - Puslinch |
2023 Curbside Collection Schedule:
2023 Curbside Collection Schedule (Week A)2023 Curbside Collection Schedule (Week B)
An alternate collection day is provided if your regular collection day falls on a statutory holiday.
Curbside Collection
All houses that receive curbside waste collection by the County of Wellington receive weekly curbside collection of the green bin.
Collection days are Tuesday to Friday each week. Blue boxes and green bins are collected weekly, while user pay garbage bags are collected every other week. Urban and rural areas receive the same frequency of collection. If you are not sure of your collection day or where to place your materials, please refer to the SWS calendar or contact SWS.
You must place your organic waste in a municipal style green bin for collection. Proper placement of the green bin for curbside collection is important for efficiency and safety.
How the Green Bin programme works
- Place the kitchen catcher bucket on the counter or under the kitchen sink. Place the green bin in an accessible place outside or in your garage.
- Optional Step - Line the kitchen catcher and/or green bin with an acceptable paper or BPI compostable liner.
- Place acceptable organic waste items into the kitchen catcher throughout the day.
- Once the kitchen catcher is full, fold or tie the liner bag shut if you are using one, and empty the contents into the green bin. Continue to fill the kitchen catcher and empty its contents into your green bin as you produce more organic waste, rinsing and re-lining the kitchen catcher each time if you desire.
- On collection day, place the green bin at the curb no later than 7:00 am. To deter critters, leave the lock latched. DO NOT place the kitchen catcher bucket at the curb for collection. Only the large green bin should be placed at the curb.
- After collection, rinse the green bin if necessary and repeat!
Acceptable Items
What goes in the green bin |
Food
Paper
Other Items
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What stays out of the green bin |
Not Acceptable
Small amounts of pet waste can be added to a Green Cone Digester. Check out the Home Composting page for more information.
Diapers and incontinence products go into your garbage. To reduce odours, double bag and use a garbage can with a sealed lid, ensuring the outer bag is a user pay garbage bag. Please, only one bag of waste per garbage can. Check out the Garbage Collection page for more tips on managing diaper waste. |
Printable Green Bin Materials List
Not sure what to do with an unwanted item?
Use the Recycle Coach waste app to look up how to properly dispose of certain items.
Line your green bin (optional)
Although it is not a requirement, you may want to line your kitchen catcher and/or green bin to keep them clean and reduce odours. If you choose to line your kitchen catcher and/or green bin, you must use one of the following:
- Paper bags
- Paper towels
- Newspapers – Watch this quick video demonstrating how to create a newspaper pouch!
- Compostable liner bags certified with the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) logo
DO NOT use plastic bags in your kitchen catcher or green bin. Any green bins containing plastic bags will NOT be collected.
Have your green bin out by 7:00 am
- Collection routing is expected to be different with the new changes to the curbside collection programme. Unexpected changes to collection routing also happen routinely (e.g. bad weather, road closures, accidents, truck breakdowns, and waiting times at waste facilities)
- Collectors are not responsible for returning to collect materials that were placed out after 7:00 am
- If you miss your collection, please store your materials until your next collection day or take them to any County waste facility (fees apply).
Placement of green bin
Trucks collect from both sides of the street throughout the County, including rural roads. Simply place your green bin, blue boxes, and user pay garbage bags at the end of your driveway or laneway for collection.
- Place the green bin in a visible location at the curb
- Place the green bin at the end of your driveway or laneway, and within one metre (three feet) of the curb or roadside
- Do not place the green bin in ditches, on snow piles, or on the travelled part of the road or sidewalk
- Do not block mail boxes
- Each green bin must not exceed 18 kg (40 lb). Green bins over 18 kg (40 lbs) will not be collected
Municipal style green bins
- For Health and Safety reasons and for efficiency of route management, only municipal style green bins will be accepted at the curb. No substitute organics containers will be collected from the curb (i.e. no kitchen catchers, no garbage pails).
- Each household will be given one green bin at no charge. Green bins were delivered to every eligible home during the launch of the programme in 2020. New subdivisions will receive green bins just before collection by the County begins. If you move to the County and your home does not already have a green bin, and you are not part of a new subdivision that will be receiving green bins, please contact SWS.
- Additional green bins may be purchased at County waste facilities for $20 each.
- Consider writing your address on your green bin so it can be returned if necessary.
- Rinse your green bin regularly to reduce odours and deter pests.
Uncollected materials
- Collection crews place stickers on uncollected green bins to explain the main reasons for materials being left behind. If you are still unclear why your materials were left behind, please contact SWS.
- If materials were placed out after 7:00 am, you may have missed your collection. Collectors will not return to pick up materials placed out after 7:00 am.
- Green bin material will not be collected if it contains unacceptable items, such as plastic bags, pet waste, or yard waste.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Green Bin Organics Programme? |
The Green Bin Organics Programme is a programme offered by the County of Wellington that will have organic waste collected from your home, diverted from landfill, and turned into compost. |
What is "organic waste"? |
"Organic waste" refers to all food waste, some paper items, and small quantities of other organic items (e.g. indoor plants). You will find a detailed list of acceptable green bin items on this page. |
Who can participate in this programme? |
All households in the County of Wellington that currently receive curbside collection can participate in this programme. This includes multi-residential buildings with up to six units. Single family households and multi-residential buildings with up to six units should have received their green bins. Multi-residential buildings with seven or more units are excluded at this time, unless the building is currently using the User Pay curbside collection programme for waste disposal. If you live in a multi-residential building with seven or more units and you would like to have the Green Bin Programme implemented in your building, please call Solid Waste Services (SWS) at 519.837.2601 or email wasteinfo@wellington.ca. You will need to provide SWS with the contact information for your building's landlord/superintendent/building owner/condo manager. Multi-residential buildings with seven or more units will be assessed on a case by case basis. If your multi-residential building is not eligible for the Green Bin Programme, it is up to the building's management to source out organics collection service through the private sector. Some small businesses, churches, etc. with limited organic waste are eligible to participate in the Green Bin Programme. Similar to how the County handles blue box collection, this would be limited to organizations that are on the County's collection routes, and limited to a maximum of 6 green bins per location. Also similar to how the County handles blue box collection, the organization would need to purchase their green bins. Green bins are available for $20 each at all of the County's six waste facilities. |
What happens to the collected material? |
The contents collected from green bins are taken to All Treat Farms in Arthur, where it is turned into compost. The finished compost becomes the main ingredient in many lawn care and garden soil products sold through retailers across Canada. By composting this material instead of landfilling it, the County is saving landfill space, reducing methane gas emissions, and creating a valuable resource for improving soil in residential gardens and agricultural applications. |
When did green bin collection start? |
Green bin collection began the week of July 7, 2020. Green bins and blue boxes are now collected weekly, while user pay garbage bags are collected every other week. Please refer to the SWS calendar for more details on your collection schedule. |
I just moved to a home in the County and it doesn't have a green bin. How can I get one? |
If you have just moved to a home in the County and you need a green bin, please call Solid Waste Services at 519.837.2601 or email wasteinfo@wellington.ca. |
I live above a store. How can I get a green bin? |
If you live above a store and you would like a green bin, please call Solid Waste Services at 519.837.2601 or email wasteinfo@wellington.ca. |
How can I replace my damaged green bin? |
If you have a damaged green bin, please bring it to any of the County's six waste facilities to exchange it for a new one, free of charge. |
How can I get an additional green bin? |
If you need an additional green bin, they are available for $20 each at all of the County's six waste facilities. |
I am a business owner in the County. How can I participate in the Green Bin Organics Programme? |
At this time, we are focusing our efforts on the residential sector for the Green Bin Programme. Green bins will only be provided to residential properties. Some small businesses, churches, etc. with limited organic waste are eligible to participate in the Green Bin Programme. Similar to how the County handles blue box collection, this is limited to organizations that are on the County's collection routes, and limited to a maximum of 6 green bins per location. Also similar to how the County handles blue box collection, the organization needs to purchase their green bins. Green bins are available for $20 each at all of the County's six waste facilities. In addition, the County is working in partnership with the City of Guelph on the Smart Cities "Our Food Future" project. There may be opportunities through this project to assist local businesses to reduce and divert food and organic waste in their operations. More information on the overall initiative can be found at http://foodfuture.ca/. |
My business or charity organization provides food in take-out containers. What types of containers will be accepted in the Green Bin Organics Programme? |
There are a variety of compostable take-out containers out there. However, not all compostable take-out containers are made the same, and some may not be accepted in the Green Bin Organics Programme. Curbside collection crews look inside each green bin before collecting the material, to ensure only acceptable material is collected. Green bins with unacceptable material will be left at the curb uncollected, to prevent contamination. If a collector cannot visually see that a take-out container is compostable, they will leave the green bin uncollected. Please note, collectors will not be pulling material out to inspect them thoroughly. Therefore, a simple rule to follow with take-out containers is to choose containers that can be visually identified as compostable from a distance. The best option that will cause the least confusion is paper take-out containers. These can be easily identified and are accepted in the Green Bin Organics Programme. Other plant-based compostable materials, especially those that look like plastic or styrofoam, will likely not get collected. Organizations that participate in the Green Bin Organics Porgramme are encouraged to contact Solid Waste Services at 519.837.2601 or wasteinfo@wellington.ca for guidance on acceptable and unacceptable materials, especially when it comes to food packaging. |
Helpful tips
Reducing Food Waste |
Check out our Food Waste Reduction webpage for more information and tips. |
Reducing Odours |
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Keeping Bins Clean |
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Deterring Pests |
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In the Winter |
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Other |
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