Editor's Note: These changes do not impact City of Barrie residents as the city oversees its own waste collection and recycling programs. However, this does impact surrounding towns and townships within Simcoe County.
New garbage, recycling and organics bins will be delivered to homes serviced by the County of Simcoe starting in August, leaving many homeowners wondering: what do they do with their old bins after Nov. 1?
Homeowners across Simcoe County will be receiving new garbage, recycling and organics bins starting in August to begin use in November under a new automated waste collection contract.
As the previous collection contract doesn’t expire until Nov. 1, homeowners will need to keep both sets of bins until that time as the new bins cannot be used until Nov. 1.
After Nov. 1, old garbage, recycling and organics bins cannot be used for curbside pick up. If homeowners would like to recycle their old bins, they can bring them to their closest county waste facility for a limited time to be recycled without a fee.
“We do offer a program at our (waste) sites for bulky rigid plastics,” said Rob McCullough, director of solid waste management with the county.
McCullough said new waste collection calendars will be delivered to homes shortly with more information on the subject, as well as information to be dropped off with the new bins, and a newsletter.
“There will be more information coming well in advance of the changes,” he said.
The county has offered suggestions on how the old bins can be repurposed for use by homeowners after Nov. 1.
- Blue boxes can be used for occasional overflow recyclables, to place leaf and yard waste at the curb, or for storage.
- Garbage cans can be used for occasional overflow garbage, but will require a county garbage tag to be affixed. Garbage cans can also be used for storing rakes, shovels or hockey sticks.
- Green bins can be used to store items like birdseed, pet food or driveway sand or salt in the winter.
“People may want to look to re-use those for in their own home, but even if people don’t want that we will be taking all the bins back at our facilities after November,” said McCullough.
'Out of the Box' ideas for how to reuse old bins
Planters
Old recycle bins and garbage bins can be converted into vegetable planters. Here’s a tutorial:
Party cooler
Old recycle bins can be used to store ice, drinks and snacks for parties.
Sensory bins for kids
Sensory bins are containers filled with materials and objects carefully selected to stimulate the senses for children. A sensory bin can be filled with a large variety of different materials such as shredded paper, water beads, water, sand, and more.
Here’s a tutorial on how to create sensory bins:
Rain barrel
Here’s a tutorial on how to convert a garbage can into a rain barrel:
