Blue Box

The Government of Ontario introduced legislation that transforms the management and collection of Blue Box materials in the province. The Blue Box Regulation, enacted under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, is a cornerstone of Ontario’s Strategy for a Waste Free Ontario: Building the Circular Economy

This regulation shifts the current cost-sharing model, which divides expenses between municipal taxpayers and producers of Blue Box materials, to a new system where producers are fully responsible for funding, operating, and meeting performance targets for the recycling program. Producers will be accountable for collecting and recycling Blue Box materials, reporting to the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA), and achieving progressively higher recycling targets.

By placing the full financial, operational, and performance responsibility on producers, this new approach creates a direct incentive to minimize waste and enhance recycling efforts, leading to reduced natural resource extraction, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Starting December 31, 2025, Circular Materials (CM), will be introducing changes to how recycling is collected in the Town of Aurora.

New recycling carts: Residents will receive a 95-gallon wheeled cart for recycling. More details to follow on when you will be receiving the cart.

Automated collection: Recycling carts will be collected using trucks with mechanical arms, replacing manual collection by collectors.

Collection frequency: Recycling will be picked up every other week instead of weekly.

We will continue to provide more updates as details become available.

For more information, visit Circular Materials’ webpage on advancing the circular economy.

For more information on Blue Box information specific to Aurora visit the Circular Materials Aurora page.

• Minimizes litter and odours: The closed lid prevents litter from blowing away and reduces odours that attract pests.
• Increased storage capacity: The larger size of the cart allows for more recyclables to be stored between collection days.
• Ensures safe working conditions for collection staff: Recycling cart collection systems reduce the risk of injuries and accidents for collection workers.

No. There is no additional charge to residents to transition to the new blue box collection program.

Effective December 31, 2025, the Town will discontinue all Blue Box-related services.

Recycling collection will be handled by Green for Life (GFL) overseen by Circular Materials.

Contact GFL for all your recycling Inquiries

Contact GFL at 1-833-779-4351 or N6Recycling@gflenv.com for the following:

• Replacement bins
• Missed collection
• Other recycling questions

For more information visit Circular Materials webpage.

No. The day of the week for recycling collection will not change, however collection will be every other week.

Yes. Each household will receive a 95-gallon wheeled cart for recycling in November. More details will be announced shortly.

Recycling carts will be collected using Automated collection. The bins will be emptied using trucks with mechanical arms. 

The new blue bin carts are 95 Gallons (360 Liters)

Height: 113 cm
Width: 63.8 cm
Length: 87.3 cm

• Set your recycling cart out so that the wheels face away from the curb (towards your home) and the lid opens toward the street.
• Ensure the cart is at least 3 feet (1 metre) in front of or beside fences, vehicles, or other obstacles.
• Place your cart on a flat surface that is clear of snow and ice to ensure safe collection.
• Do not place your recycling cart on the road or sidewalk
• For winter set out – clear a space to place your cart on the curb or your driveway

During snowy weather, place your recycling cart on a flat, shoveled surface at the end of your driveway. Please avoid placing it on the street or on top of snowbanks.

Make sure it’s at least 3 feet (1 metre) away from snowbanks, parked cars, and other obstacles so collection crews can easily access it.

Always keep the lid closed to keep snow out, and point the lid opening toward the street for proper collection.

Do not place your recycling cart on the street.

• Sort materials: Ensure recyclables are separated from garbage and organic materials.
• Bundle cardboard: Flatten any cardboard before placing it in the cart.
• Ensure materials are clean, dry and loose: This helps ensure materials are ready for recycling.

• Please ensure that all recyclables are included in the cart to enable efficient collection of recyclable materials.

• Recycling boxes are not accepted in your curbside recycling. Consider reusing it for storage or re-purposing it for another use.

As of December 31, 2025, the Town of Aurora will no longer oversee Blue Box recycling services.

Green For Life (GFL) has been awarded the contract and will continue to pickup recycling materials. 

Contact GFL for all your recycling Inquiries

Contact GFL at 1-833-779-4351 or N6Recycling@gflenv.com for the following:

• Replacement bins
• Missed collection
• Other recycling questions

For more information visit Circular Materials webpage.

For all other curbside waste inquiries, including garbage, organics, and yard waste please continue to contact the Town.

• GFL will be working with residents to make any necessary provisions on a case-by-case basis. We understand the importance of supporting recycling efforts and are committed to supporting residents during this transition to recycling carts. If you have an inquiry regarding the use of recycling carts or require assistance, please contact GFL at 1-833-779-4351 or N6Recycling@gflenv.com 

No. The Town of Aurora will continue to collect garbage, green bins, yard waste, Christmas trees as well as large appliances and bulky items. 

Yes. Industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) waste is regulated separately from residential waste in Ontario, and is not eligible for collection by Circular Materials as per the Province of Ontario’s Blue Box Regulation.

The Town will no longer provide waste collection to IC&I properties and private collection must be arranged. 

Learn more about how this impacts businesses on the Business Property Waste page.

Producers are companies that supply materials for the blue box program, including packaging, paper products, and packaging-like items made from paper, glass, metal, or plastic. These companies, who design, manufacture, and market products and packaging, are responsible for managing and funding the entire lifecycle of their products and packaging.

For more details, visit Circular Materials’ webpage on promoting the circular economy. 

Blue boxes/Green Bins are replaced free of charge if broken. Please contact GFL at 1-866-421-5625 or wasteline@GFLenv.com. All replacement bins must be to the curb on the date of exchange agreed with our contractor GFL in order to receive a replacement.

Can be purchased at Town Hall or the JOC for $9.25 (tax included). 

All purchased bins will be delivered the following week from GFL.

New residents can request a new resident package in person at the Town Hall or by calling
905-727-1375.

Please note: We do not have the blue or green boxes on-site. They will either be delivered curbside or you can pick them up after speak with a customer service representative at Aurora Town Hall.

Cornerstone to Recovery bins are available for the community to drop off their used and unwanted textiles.

Please do not leave items outside the bins. If the bin is full, please go to another location or hold onto the items until it has been services. The bins are serviced weekly until further notice.

Since June 2016 we have diverted 524,540 lbs. of material from our landfill sites.

We have partnered with Cornerstone to Recovery to provide a textile recycling program and bins are located around Town to donate clothing and textiles. Stained or torn textiles are also accepted, but must be dry and free of any medical or hazardous liquids such as grease/oil, blood and vomit.

The Town of Aurora has numerous textile bins throughout Aurora that are conveniently located at the following facilities:

• Stronach Aurora Community Centre - 1400 Wellington Street East (2 bins)

• Aurora Family Leisure Complex - 135 Industrial Parkway North (2 bins)

• Aurora Community Centre - 1 Community Centre Lane

• Aurora Public Library - CLOSED due to Construction – The bin has been relocated to the Stronach Complex

• Town Hall parking lot - 100 John West Way

If you have lots of textiles to donate, or if you simply can’t get over to the donation bins around Town, you can schedule a home pickup through Cornerstone to Recovery.

Schedule one now by emailing Cornerstone to Recovery or call 1-866-927-3873.

This is a no cost program that promotes independent living and reduces the risk of injury to those in need of physical assistance. For information on this service contact Access Aurora

Large metal items such as appliances, barbecues (excluding propane tanks), bed frames, furnaces, hot water heaters, metal bath tubs, storage sheds and bicycles must be recycled. Please call our contractor, GFL at 1-866-421-5625 to arrange for a special curbside collection. For safety reasons, please remove doors from refrigerators, freezers, ovens, dishwashers, washers and dryers. Please note: If a special collection is not booked, metal items will not be collected.

On windy days, the lighter contents in blue boxes can often be found blowing out of bins resulting in litter on our streets and on our neighbour's properties. When debris and litter falls on a residential property it’s the responsibility of the homeowner to clean it up as per the Clean Communities By-law 6257-20. Please be considerate when packing your blue boxes and use the suggestions below to keep your blue box contents in their place.

• Place heavier items such as books and magazines on top of the lighter items. This should help prevent light blue box materials (such as paper) from blowing out of the bin and littering the streets.
• Bundle cardboard and newspapers separately. These bundles can act as a 'lid' for your blue box.
• On windy days, consider putting your recycling boxes out for collection in the morning, rather than the night before or skip that week's collection and place your recycling out for following week if your blue boxes aren't full.
• Please keep plastic bags/film plastic, styrofoam (including take out containers) and disposal coffee and soft drink cups out of the blue box. These items are not recyclable in our program and should be placed in the garbage.
• Don't overfill your blue box, keep material below the rim to prevent the wind from catching it and blowing it out of the bin.

There is no limit to the number of blue boxes residents can put out for weekly collection.