City of St. Thomas

The City of St. Thomas offers weekly curbside garbage collection to its residents. The City enforces a strict two bag/container limit per week. Residents may place extra bags or containers out for collection as long as the material has a Garbage bag tag affixed to the waste. See below for a list of Bag Tag Vendor Locations. Bag Tags cost $1.75 each.

Please refer to the Collection Routes to determine your correct day. If a holiday falls on your regular collection day, your collection day may be moved to an alternate day, if an alternate collection has been scheduled you will find this information on the Collection Schedule.

Download the My Waste App and never miss another collection date!

Missed Garbage/Blue Box/Compost Pick Up

Call Michelle Shannon, Waste Management Coordinator at 519-631-1680 ext., 4258

Garbage set out requirements:

• Garbage must be to curbside by 7:00 am on your collection day
• Garbage must be within 1 meter (3 feet) of the traveled portion of the road
• Each bag or container with its contents can not weigh more than 20Kg (45lbs)
• If a reusable container is utilized, the container must be in good repair and have two handles on either side for easy dumping

Unacceptable materials for Garbage Collection:

• Hazardous Waste
• Appliances 
• Bio-medical waste
• Combustible or Explosive material
• Automobiles, vehicles or any parts thereof
• Construction debris
• Crates and pallets
• Household furniture 
• Scrap metal
• Sharps(syringes, lancets)
• Tires

Bag Tags in Stores in St. Thomas:

(Cost $1.75, including taxes)

• Churchill Variety, Homedale Plaza, 26 Churchill Crescent
• Daisy Mart, 100 Wilson Avenue 
• Dixie Dairy Bar, 51 St. Catharine Street  
• East End Kwik Way, 1009 Talbot Street 
• Fenlons Family Market & Video @ 114 Confederation Drive
• City Hall - Customer Service, 545 Talbot Street
• Moe’s Variety, 800 Talbot Street
• Plaza Convenience, 321 Elm Street
• The Corner Store, 138 Alma Street
• Waterworks Variety, 7 South Edgeware Road
• Wellington Convenience & Video, 69 Wellington Street
• Wellington Variety, 352 Wellington Street
• Coffey's News Depot - 591 Talbot Street    

The City of St. Thomas offers a two stream recycling collection program to its residents. This means that paper products must be separated from food containers.  Please see below for information on how to sort your materials correctly. 

Recyclable boxes (blue and grey) are collected on garbage day on a bi-weekly basis. Recyclable collection occurs on the opposite week as green cart collection. Please refer to the Collection Routes to determine your correct day and what schedule to follow for organics and blue box collection (A or B Schedule). Once you have determined your day and schedule follow along with the Collection Schedule. 

Blue Box Set Out Requirements

• Boxes (blue and grey) must be to curbside by 7:00 am on your collection day

• Boxes (blue and grey) must be within 1 meter (3 feet) of the travelled portion of the road

• Box and contents can not weigh more than 20kg (45lbs)

• Residents may use containers that are not City issued blue and grey boxes as long as they are easily identifiable as recyclable material and meet all other guidelines (i.e., can not weigh more than 45lbs).

Accepted Items and How to Sort

Ideally, residents would use 2 separate blue boxes, one for the paper stream and one for the Commingle Container Stream. If 2 blue boxes is not an option for you, please see below for information on how to manage your recyclables.

Wine and Spirit bottles and containers can be returned to The Beer Store for deposit 

Replacement/Extra Blue or Grey Boxes 

Replacement or additional blue and grey boxes may be purchased at City Hall - Customer Service Department for $8.00 each. 

What happens to the material once it leaves the curb?

The City of St. Thomas is proud to offer a full scale organics collection program to its residents. 

The Green Cart is collected on garbage day on a bi-weekly basis. Green Cart collection occurs on the opposite week as blue box collection. Please refer to the Collection Routes to determine your correct day and what schedule to follow for organics and blue box collection (A or B Schedule). Once you have determined your day and schedule follow along with the Collection Schedule. 

The articles and information below will help to make it easy for everyone to do their part for our environment. 

• Helpful Green Cart Tips
•  Grasscycling 
• Organics Origami; make a Green Cart liner out of newspaper

Green Cart Set Out Requirements 

• Cart must be to curbside by 7:00 am on your collection day
• Cart must be within 1 meter (3 feet) of the travelled portion of the road 
• The lid of the cart must be completely closed 
• Cart and contents can not exceed 100 lbs 
• Only material in the 64 gallon Compostainer cart will be collected. Excess organic material outside of the cart in bags/bundles will not be collected
• Material should be loose inside the cart. Plastic bags will not be accepted 
• Only bags with the Biodegradable Products Institute logo will be accepted in the Compostainer.

Acceptable Green Cart Materials

• Leaves
• Yard Waste
• Brush (no longer than 40cm(15in.) and have a diameter no larger than 5cm (2in.)
• Flowers (fresh or dried)
• Fruits & Vegetables
• Grains (pasta, bread, cereal)
• Dairy Products(cheese, yogurt)
• Pet Waste & litter
• Coffee Grounds & Filters
• Tea Bags
• Egg Shells
• Meat (including bones)
• Soiled Pizza Boxes
• Paper drink trays
• Used tissues and paper towel

Moving?

The green cart is the property of the City of St. Thomas and is to remain with the property to which it was assigned. The cart is a chattel of the property and is not to be removed. The City is not responsible for the replacement of a lost or stolen cart

Dead Animals

These items can be hazardous to safety or health.

City property: dead wildlife including squirrels will be picked up. Small cadavers such as birds, rodents/mice will not be picked up.  Please call Customers service to report the location of the animal.

Private property: 

• Small dead wild animals such as birds, squirrels, rats, mice, skunks, raccoons, opossums, and rabbits should be double bagged and placed at the curb for garbage collection.  Do not place it in your Green Cart or recycling box.

• Larger dead wild animals such as coyotes and deer do not have to be bagged but need to be brought to the curb. Please call Customer Service to request a pick up

If you must pick up a dead bird or animal, wear gloves, then in a doubled plastic bag. Tie the bag closed, then wash your hands thoroughly. Place out on your garbage day for collection.  Do not place a dead animal in your recycling or organics for collection.

If you don't want to collect and dispose of the dead animal, you can hire a private business or contact a pest control agency.

Currently the City of St. Thomas does not provide a curbside collection of large items, such as couches, chairs and appliances. 

These items can be handled for a fee at the Community Recycling Centre.

Frequently Asked Questions

When can I dispose of my HHW?

Located at the Community Recycling Centre - 330 South Edgeware Road.  Household Hazardous Waste is only accepted on Saturdays.

What does “HHW” mean anyway?

HHW means “Household Hazardous Wastes”. These are wastes which are hazardous but are generated in very small quantities by the average household. The HHW Depot provides an option for householders for proper disposal and/or treatment, as opposed to putting it in the garbage or down the drain. 

Businesses must manage their own hazardous wastes as a cost of doing business.

Is the HHW Depot “approved”? What is a “Certificate of Approval”?

Yes, the HHW Depot must be approved by the Ministry of the Environment in order to operate. The permit is called a “Certificate of Approval”. The Certificate sets out things like the permitted hours of operation, how HHW must be stored and when removed. 

What HHW materials are acceptable?

Typical HHW are waste paints, stains, varsols and other petroleum distillates, spent batteries, (single-use and automotive), motor oil, aerosol spray cans, BBQ propane tanks, etc. 

All must be in their original, labelled containers - this is to ensure the nature of the contents. This is important because the Depot will only be approved for only the most common types of HHW. Without labels, the collection agency would not be sure the waste was an approved type.

The HHW attendant can determine if visitors are bringing acceptable HHW. 

What HHW materials are not acceptable? 

It is difficult to list all unacceptable HHW. An example is paint manufactured before 1972 which often contained PCBs. Also, waste chemicals from photography or swimming pool maintenance are not acceptable. Materials not in original containers (except used oils) will not be accepted for the reasons mentioned above. 

Can I put HHW in my curbside garbage?

Everyone agrees that HHW should be diverted from landfill as much as possible. Hazardous liquids can be dangerous for collection personnel to handle and can damage waste trucks. Therefore, The City of St. Thomas encourages householders to take their HHW to a certified Depot. 

Is there a user fee? Why? How much? 

There are no fees associated with the disposal of HHW. 

If my HHW material is not acceptable, what can I do? Is there somewhere else to take it?

This depends on the material. But there are often alternatives. Sometimes the place of purchase will have a recycling/disposal service. If in doubt, please ask the HHW attendant who will try to answer your questions. Or you may wish to telephone the local Ministry of the Environment office at 519) 873-5000, Monday to Friday - ask to speak to the Duty Officer. 

Our program is here to help you get rid of your used batteries for FREE! We collect all kinds of batteries, like single-use or rechargeable ones. Just drop them off at the CRC during operating hours.

You can bring these types of batteries:

• All sizes of alkaline sealed cell batteries
• lithium ion
• nickel metal hydride
• nickel cadmium
• primary lithium
• mercury batteries
• car batteries 

If you have questions about waste management, call the Environmental Services department at 519-631-1680 ext. 4258.