What to know

One Toronto resident says his recycling hasn’t been collected in 11 days, with overflowing bins affecting neighbours on his street.

Missed pickups have surged since Circular Materials took over recycling collection on Jan. 1, with thousands of stops reportedly skipped citywide.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has defended the transition despite disruptions, while Circular Materials says issues are due to early “start-up challenges.”

Amid ongoing disruptions to recycling collection in the city, one Toronto resident says recyclables have been accumulating across his neighbourhood for 11 days, causing frustration among locals. 

When he first received a notice that recycling collection would be changing in Toronto as of Jan. 1 this year, Keaton Crouse didn’t think much of it. However, two weeks into the new system, his blue bins are overflowing after the new private collector has failed to pick up his recyclables two times in a row. 

“It was supposed to be picked up on the third. It is now January 14, and nobody’s come to pick that up,” he told Now Toronto on Wednesday. 

@nowtoronto Amid ongoing disruptions to #recycling collection in the city, one #Toronto resident says recyclables have been accumulating across his neighbourhood for 11 days, causing frustration among locals. #CircularMaterials ♬ original sound – Now Toronto

Crouse says the issue is impacting several residents in his Dovercourt Village neighbourhood, noting that almost all of his neighbours on his street have not had their recyclables picked up. 

“They’re overflowing. People have bags next to it. They’ve got boxes all over the place. I’ve even seen my neighbour have to use my recycle bin just to find space. It’s been that bad,” he said. 

“It definitely takes up at least half the sidewalk. And as more and more things go out, [there is] less and less space, whether it just be cardboard boxes that are broken down or just more things stacked inside of giant cardboard boxes.” 

The Torontonian and his neighbours are not the only ones to face issues with their recyclables. Since private company Circular Materials took over the service from the city, thousands of residents have reported recycling piling up on curbsides, with scheduled collections being missed since Jan. 2. 

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On Tuesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters about 2,000 collection stops have been missed during the transition, blaming the problem on communication issues between the City of Toronto and Circular Materials. 

The premier also defended the service update despite the issues, saying the new system reduces costs. 

“Thank God we uploaded it, because it saves taxpayers tons of money in all municipalities, across all 444 municipalities in Ontario,” he told reporters. 

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Despite the premier’s remarks, Crouse says he has never faced serious issues with recycling collection before Circular Materials took over.  Additionally, he said his compost and garbage, which is still managed by the city, have been collected on time. 

“Before the switch, it always got picked up without fail. I mean, we never had problems. Maybe some days it got a little bit delayed, or, worst case, it got picked up the next day, but it always got picked up,” he said.

CIRCULAR MATERIALS COMMITTED TO DELIVER

In response to the pickup delays, Circular Materials CEO Allen Langdon and GFL Environmental Founder and CEO Patrick Dovigi said the companies are committed to “delivering reliable recycling collection” and said issues have to do with transitional challenges. 

“With Ontario representing the largest recycling transition ever undertaken in Canada, there have been some early transition challenges. Circular Materials and GFL remain jointly committed to resolving these start-up challenges and ensuring Toronto residents receive reliable recycling collection service,” they said in a joint statement shared with Now Toronto on Wednesday. 

Meanwhile, Crouse noted his next blue bin collection is scheduled for this Friday, but said he is still skeptical on whether the service will follow through. 

“Friday will be an interesting day to see if they actually pick it up. If not, that’s three weeks of no pickups, and halfway through January, and everyone’s got recycling and nowhere to put it.”

Going forward, the resident hopes the issue is resolved sooner than later and that Circular Materials takes accountability. 

“[I hope] it just becomes regular. They stick to their scheduling or at least are able to tell us, like going forward, what happened and why that won’t happen again. Because Toronto’s a large city, and if you keep neglecting different spots, [the] raccoon population is going to have a field day, but the rest of us won’t.”