The Christmas/New Year’s season brings with it unique waste management concerns, which the City of Greater Sudbury has provided residents some tips to take care of

With the holiday season bringing with it unique waste-management concerns, the City of Greater Sudbury has provided some guidance regarding where certain products should go.

When in doubt, residents can also plug specific items into the Waste Wise App, which clarifies where everything can go, and “is the easiest way to avoid common mistakes and ensure materials end up in the right place,” a city spokesperson told Sudbury.com.

Food and non-recyclable paper waste, including food scraps, paper towels, tissue gift paper, waxed paper, parchment paper and paper plates and cups can all go in the green cart.

“Using the Green Cart helps residents stay within their garbage limits and keeps organic material out of landfill,” city communications staff noted.

Various holiday packaging items can be recycled in blue boxes, including wrapping paper and boxes. Although specific items can be plugged into the Waste Wise App at present, producer-responsibilty takes over on Jan. 1, at which point specifics can be found at circularmaterials.ca/Sudbury. There’s little change in what will be accepted, though.

Residents with Blue Box questions, including missed collection or new and replacement Blue Boxes, should contact WM at 1-800-561-1655 or [email protected].

For Christmas trees, residents should remove all decorations, lights and tinsel before setting them out. Natural trees are collected as part of the city’s scheduled Christmas tree collection and must not be bagged. Place your undecorated tree at the roadside by 7 a.m. on your regular collection day. Some trees may be collected by a separate truck on a different day.

Residents with regularly scheduled collection on Thursday, Dec. 25, will instead receive collection on Dec. 27, 2025. There are no changes to collection schedules for residents with regularly scheduled collection on Dec. 26. Residents with regularly scheduled collection on Jan. will instead receive collection on Jan. 3.

During the winter and holiday season, collection routing may change for operational reasons. As a result, collection trucks may arrive earlier than expected. Residents are asked to have waste at the curb by 7 a.m. to ensure collection.