The County of Simcoe is thrilled to have launched its new Blue Grew campaign earlier this April.

Some County residents may have already received their new, larger blue box at the curb, while others are still awaiting its arrival. It will take until the May long weekend to deliver the new boxes to all 136,000 households throughout the County of Simcoe.

So what exactly is different about the County’s new blue box?

For starters, it’s 30% bigger than your old blue box, which means you can fit even more recyclables in at one time. And that’s a very good thing, because there are a variety of new types of plastics that can now be recycled that weren’t previously accepted in the County.

Those new items include rigid plastic household containers and lids marked 1 through 7, plastic clamshell packaging frequently used to hold baked goods and produce, clean plastic plant pots and trays, small yogurt and pudding cups, and the lids from take-out coffee cups.  All of these items, which took up a lot of room in the garbage, can now be thrown into your brand new, 83-litre blue box.

It’s important to keep in mind that the County’s recycling program remains a two-stream system, meaning paper fiber must be separated from the containers placed in the blue box. If you have extra paper to recycle, feel free to keep your old blue box for the overflow.

Residents will also find helpful information inside their blue box upon delivery, including a peel-off sticker with all of the acceptable materials listed to be placed directly on the blue box, and a reminder magnet for the fridge. The County has also developed an online Waste Wizard tool to help you with all of your sorting questions. Simply visit the Waste Wizard section of simcoe.ca and type the item in question into the search bar. Automatically, the Waste Wizard will tell you which box to put the item in. There are approximately 60,000 items recognized by the Waste Wizard.

Also, keep an eye out for the funny and informative Blue Grew promotional video that will be posted on YouTube at the end of April. This video will set the tone for the entire promotional campaign that you’ll be sure to see and hear in the coming months.

Half of the cost of the new blue boxes was provided to the County of Simcoe by the Continuous Improvement Fund (CIF) — a fund which helps Ontario municipalities undertake best practices initiatives to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of blue box recycling programs.

If you want more information about the new blue box program, browse simcoe.ca or call the County’s customer service centre at 705-735-6901 or toll-free at 1-800-263-3199.

Cal Patterson,
Warden, County of Simcoe