Recycling Pickup Delays in Willowdale

Many of you have reached out to my office regarding missed recycling pickups since the transition of recycling responsibilities from the City of Toronto to Circular Materials on January 1, 2026. I completely understand your frustration - especially after the holiday season when recycling tends to pile up. Just to be clear, recycling is no longer a service provided by the City of Toronto; it is now operated by Circular Materials, as mandated by the province.

For those who need it, here is their customer service information:

• Phone: 1-888-921-2686

  Hours: Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM

• Online Inquiry Form: Submit here

• Escalations: 1-877-667-2626

  Hours: Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Residents who were able to get through to a live agent - since I’ve heard calls can go straight to voicemail or take a long time to connect - were advised to leave recycling bins out until Friday for pickup. However, I recognize this creates challenges, especially with snowbanks and limited driveway access. Unfortunately, not leaving bins out risks missing collection altogether.

City staff have confirmed they are aware of missed collections and are in contact with Circular Materials to resolve this. Our office has also reached out to Circular Materials for clarification on a firm pickup date, the cause of missed collections and steps to prevent this from happening again. We hope this bump in the road is momentary and recycling service smooths out in the weeks to come.

P.S. You can always check your waste collection schedule by entering your address here or by downloading the TOwaste app.

What We're Working On...

• whether recycling pick-up dates can be added to the TOwaste app calendar since it is no longer listed on the app alongside garbage and compost pick-up,

• displaying more than the two weeks of pick-up schedule currently displayed on TOwaste, and

• a deeper dive into the budget implications of this provincial upload, given that the province had been funding city-delivered recycling pick-up for a few years prior to this year's transition.