Recyclable materials are collected curbside, sorted, bailed, and sold to various markets for recycling; helping to recover the cost of the program.

Before you throw something away, think about another way you can reuse that item. Plastic grocery bags can be reused, plastic tubs and lids make good storage containers, and glass jars are great for pickles, jams, and jellies.

For more information about sorting, read the brochures on the left-hand side of the webpage.

Blue Bag

If you are putting items in the blue bag, please make sure they are rinsed clean. We can't recycle items that are dirty, and they can make other items in the bag dirty as well. When this happens, nothing in the bag can be recycled.

The following items belong in your blue bag, rinsed clean:

Organics

Green carts store your organic waste between collections. If you do not have a green cart, click here for more information about where to get one.

Put these items in your green cart:

No plastic please! If you must line your compost bin, onlu use certified compostable bin liners bearing the US or Canadian Composting Council logo (shown below). These have been tested in the Community Recycling Center's composting facility. Newspaper or paper bag compost bin liners are preferable.

Oxy-biodegradable bags or bags bearing other logos are not acceptable for use within our area. They are labelled as biodegradable, but do not break down quickly enough in our composting facility and contaminate the compost.

US Composting Council logo

Paper

These items should be put in a plastic grocery bag or clear bag:

Cardboard

Corrugated cardboard must be flattened, folded and tied into 3 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot bundles. If any of the dimensions are larger than this, it may not fit in the garbage truck.

Garbage

 Garbage should be placed in green or black bags. By the time you recycle your other waste, there shouldn't be much left to go in these bags.

Sharp Items and Broken Glass

 Any items that are sharp or have the potential to break during transport (old knives, sawblades, burnt-out lightbulbs, or broken glass) should be placed in a taped box and labelled as "sharp" or "broken glass" and set out beside your garbage bag. This will help keep waste haulers and Recycling Center staff from being hurt by clearly identifying which items have the potential to cause an injury and allow them to handle it with extra care.

Household Hazardous Waste Depot

The Community Recycling Center accepts the following residential Household Hazardous Waste free of charge:

You can return leftover liquid paint to any ENVIRO-DEPOT™ for free. ENVIRO-DEPOTS™ will accept latex and oil-based paints, including aerosols, as well as varnishes and stains. Empty paint cans, or paint cans with dried up paint, can be brought to the Household Hazardous Depot

Please note, non-refillable propane cylinders and tanks must be completely drained before being dropped-off at the Household Hazardous Waste Depot.

Construction and Demolition WasteConstruction and demolition waste can be brought to the Community Recycling Center and must be sorted as follows: 

• Clean wood and brush
• Painted wood or wood with a small amount of metal and chipboard
• Asphalt shingles
• Old bricks and concrete
• Metals, including appliances, empty drums with one end removed, and metal tanks that have been cut in half and drained.

Sharps (needles, lancets, and syringes)

Sharps should be placed in a safe sharps container and returned to your local pharmacy. As part of a program developed in 2001, all pharmacies provide their customers with a free sharps disposal container and they accept full sharps containers from residential users for safe disposal. Syringes, lancets and needles should never be placed in your blue bag or garbage bag even if contained in a sealed jar—waste haulers and Recycling Center staff have been seriously injured by sharps that were not disposed of properly.

Atlantic Canada Electronics Stewardship (ACES) Program

Consumers pay an Environmental Handling Fee (EHF) on designated electronics when they are purchased. Because of this, consumers and businesses can drop off their e-waste items with assurance those items will be recycled responsibly. Businesses also have the option of scheduling drop-offs for large quantities of e-waste.

The following items can be dropped-off at your nearest ACES drop-off center free of charge:

Please note: these items will not be picked or during regular collection nor spring or fall collection. The Lunenburg Regional Community Recycling Center is not an ACES drop-off center.

If you have additional questions about this program, call ACES toll-free at 1-877-774-3260, email them at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit their website www.acestewardship.ca.