Green Bin Organics Collection
Green Bins are collected weekly in all municipalities. There are no limits to the amount of recyclables that can be placed at the curb.
Place your Green Bin at the curb with your garbage and recycling by 7 a.m. on your regular collection day. Do not place your Green Bin at the curb any earlier than 5 p.m. the day before collection.
Acceptable items
Search for an item to find out how to dispose of it.
- List of acceptable Green Bin materials
Click on each item below for more information.
Replacing a damaged Green Bin
Green Bins and Kitchen Catchers are for sale at locations across the region. Broken containers can be replaced free-of-charge. Green Bins, and other curbside recycling containers, are also available for purchase online, with pick-up at select locations.
Restrictions for Green Bin substitute containers
Garbage cans and similar containers can be used as Green Bins by putting a sticker that identifies it as "Organics".
Requirements for substitute containers
- Height: 3 feet (91 cm) or less
- Diameter: 2 feet (61 cm) or less
- Weight: 50 lbs or less
- Handles: Must have handles to pick up container
Order your organic sticker online to identify your container as an organics bin.
Using your Green Bin
We encourage using your curbside Green Bin even if you have a backyard composter. The Green Bin program accepts many materials that can't be safely composted in a backyard composter including bones, meat, dairy, food oils, pet waste / kitty litter and more.
Storing your Green Bin
Store your Green Bin in a garage, shed or somewhere away from direct sunlight. Keep your Green Bin away from railings, walls or other objects that rodents or pests can use to climb or crawl.
Using a Kitchen Catcher
Consider using the Kitchen Catcher inside your home. It's a convenient way to collect and store your food waste and other organic material before emptying the content into your Green Bin.
Lining your container
When storing your kitchen scraps in your Kitchen Catcher, you can place organic waste directly into it without using a liner.
Some items do require a liner. Kitty litter, pet waste, wood shavings and cold fireplace ashes all need to be contained using an acceptable liner.
To line your Green Bin or Kitchen Catcher, use any of the following acceptable liners:
- Newspaper or flyers
- Cardboard
- Paper food waste bags
- Certified compostable bags
Benefits of Green Bins
Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill.
Using your Green Bin helps reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
Most of the waste placed in the garbage stream is organic waste (such as food waste) and should be composted. Using your Green Bin diverts this organic material from the garbage and saves valuable landfill space.
Organic material needs oxygen to properly break down into soil and will not break down in a landfill. Without oxygen, organic material buried in a landfill produces methane gas, which is 20 times worse for the environment than carbon dioxide. Green Bin material is taken to a composting facility and turned into valuable compost in only eight weeks.
Reduces odours and keep pests out
Green Bins are designed to reduce odours and keep racoons and other rodents out with its secure lockable handle feature. When closed properly, it should be as secure as your regular garbage can.
To make it even more pest-proof, you can:
- Purchase a new Green Bin equipped with a raccoon-proof latch
- Use a bungee cord to hold the lid down even more (remember to remove it when you place the Green Bin at the curb)
- Rub vinegar on your Green Bin - the pests don't like the smell!
- Place your Green Bin to the curb on the morning of your collection day, not the night before
© Niagara Region - 1815 Sir Isaac Brock Way, Thorold, ON, L2V 4T7 - Phone: 905-980-6000, Toll-free: 1-800-263-7215
