Holiday Waste Sorting Guide
Whenever possible, remember to reuse or donate items in usable condition before tossing them!
Organics
Printed paper gift wrap (if it's foil or plastic, it goes into the garbage)- Printed paper gift bags (if it's laminated plastic (glossy), it goes into the garbage)
- Tissue paper
- Burlap & natural twine
- Natural wreaths & garland (separated from all non-compostable wire & decorations)
- Christmas trees (cut small enough to fit into the green cart - lid must close)
- Bamboo utensils
- Napkins & paper towels
- Clementine boxes (with plastic mesh removed)
- Nut shells
- Seafood shells
- All food scraps that can't be saved
Recycling stream #1 (Containers)
Plastic, metal & glass packaging items (includes CLEAN food packaging)- Tin and other metal containers
- CLEAN aluminum foil & aluminum plates
Recycling stream #2 (Paper)
- Kraft paper gift wrap (no heavy dyes)
- Kraft Paper gift bags (no heavy dyes; if it's laminated (glossy), it goes into the garbage)
- Paper greeting cards (with all batteries & non-recyclable decorative material removed)
- Paper gift boxes
- Letters & envelopes
- Catalogues & flyers
- Cardboard boxes (when broken down, if cardboard is too large to fit securely into a tied bag, please ensure it is bundled within WHRM length limits for curbside collection)
Garbage
Plastic & foil gift wrap- Laminated(glossy) gift bags
- Bows & ribbons
- Bubble wrap
- Artificial Christmas trees & garlands
- Broken ornaments (ensure any broken glass is safely contained in a box & labelled; you can either place the box into one of your garbage bags, or next to your bags at curbside; please ensure this is visible to collectors)
- Christmas string lights
- Plastic cutlery
- Styrofoam™ (polystyrene) products
- Dirty aluminum foil and plates (if clean, recycle aluminum materials!)
- Candles
- Plastic & foil candy wrappers
- Mixed-material items that can't be separated (i.e. a Pringles container, most coffee bags & canisters, toys, etc.)
Materials NOT collected curbside
- Batteries: Please visit Call2Recycle to find a Call2Recycle drop-off location near you.
- Electronics: Effective February 1st, 2003, electronic waste can no longer be buried in the landfill and is not collected curbside. View the full,
pdf
updated list of items(73 KB)
.
Drop off unwanted electronics at: New Boundaries, 79 Centennial Drive (902-798-5160), or visit: Recycle My Electronics for all e-waste drop-off locations in Nova Scotia.
If we missed anything, search from thousands of waste items to learn what goes where on R6RECYCLES!
