Blue Box Recycling

The Municipality of Trent Lakes has a two-stream Blue Box Recycling Program. This program is managed by the County of Peterborough.

Sorting your recycling

Sort your blue box material into two boxes, containers and papers (fibres). Here is a printable Blue Box Sort Guide to help with your sorting. Use the searchable waste and recycling app to help you sort your recycling and also find out how you can recycle or dispose of a product or material. You can also download the app to your phone so you have access on the go.

Recycling instructions

Before placing your blue box material into your recycling bin, please:

Empty and rinse all containers. This includes your food and beverage cartons;
Flatten all boxes;
Place all plastic bags in one and tie closed. Please see our Film Plastic Recycling Sheet for more information.

Your blue box material is accepted at any of our four Transfer Station sites.

Purchasing a recycling bin

You can purchase a recycling bin from us as well as the County of Peterborough. Recycling bins are $6.00 and are available at:

Municipality of Trent Lakes Office, 760 Peterborough County Road 36, Trent Lakes
County of Peterborough, Infrastructure Services Department Office at 310 Armour Road, Peterborough

Recyclable materials

Learn more about the different recyclable materials.

Containers

Plastic containers:

All plastic food and drink containers
Bakery trays, party trays, plastic egg cartons
Windshield washer fluid bottles, detergent bottles, toiletry bottles and jars
Flower pots (less than 12") and trays (including black plastic food and drink containers)

Metal containers:

Aluminum/steel cans
Aluminum foil, trays, burner liners, pie plates
Aerosol cans (empty with lids on)
Paint cans (empty with lids off)

Glass containers:

Clear and coloured food and drink bottles and jars

Cartons and cups:

Juice and milk cartons
Drinking and broth boxes
Coffee cups (no lids)
Take-out cold drink cups

Cartons are best recycled when they are kept in their original shape. No flattening is required.

Recycling your food and beverage cartons is easy! Learn about how cartons are recycled.

Non-recyclable containers:

Single use disposable plastic cups are garbage (e.g. red solo cups)
Styrofoam

Papers (fibres)

Plastic bags:

Bread, bulk, produce & milk bags (rinsed)
Frozen fruit/vegetable bags (no zippered pouches)
Shopping bags
Dry cleaning bags
Newspaper, magazine bags (remove papers from bags and recycle)
Garden soil, manure, water softener and road salt bags
Over-wrap from toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, water/soft drink cases, diapers

Paper:

Mail, office paper, envelopes (including window)
Newspapers, flyers, magazines, catalogues (remove over-wrap)
Paper bags
Shredded paper (in a clear plastic bag tied closed)

Boxes:

Boxes - please flatten all boxes
Rolls (paper towel, toilet & wrapping paper)
Bundled cardboard

Non-recyclable paper:

Chip bags
Wrappers
Liners from cereal/cracker boxes