Garbage Collection And Waste Watch Program
Garbage collection service is provided to all Island residents. Property owners are responsible for the cost of garbage collection. If you are renting, this will be included in your rent. Every household and business in PEI is expected to sort garbage as outlined in the Waste Watch program to reduce the amount of waste.
Every household should have a green compost cart, black waste cart, and supply of transparent blue bags to store and dispose of recyclables. It is helpful to have some cord handy at home to bundle the corrugated cardboard recyclables.
The company providing the garbage collection service in PEI is the Island Waste Management Corporation (IWMC).
How to Sort Garbage
We can all help the environment by sorting our garbage properly into the following categories:
Recyclables
Recyclables are materials that can be remanufactured and should be sorted into transparent plastic blue bags. You should sort them as follows:
- blue bag #1 - paper and paper products
- blue bag #2 - glass, plastic (type 1-5), milk and juice cartons, metal items
- corrugated cardboard boxes - flattened, bundled, and placed next to your blue bags
NOTE: All recyclable items must be clean and dry. Before recycling bills or other papers or documents containing personal information, such as your name, address, phone number, bank account number, etc., it is a good idea to shred them.
Compost
Compost is a mixture of plants, vegetable waste, food leftovers and other decomposable materials, which is later added to soil to help plants grow. Following organic waste goes into the compost cart:
- food scraps
- used tea bags and coffee, paper filters
- eggshells
- non-recyclable paper
- boxboard (like cereal or paper tissue boxes)
- yard and garden materials
NOTE: Compost materials should not be placed into plastic bags. You can either throw compost directly into the cart or use compostable bags or paper bags. They can be bought in most grocery stores.
Waste
Waste includes all items which cannot go into recyclables or green compost cart. Here are some common items that belong to waste:
- broken glass and broken dishes
- styrofoam containers
- chewing gum
- non-recyclable plastics (type 6 and 7)
- clothes and footwear
- floor sweepings and vacuum cleaner bags
- empty motor oil containers
- broken computers, computer parts and other electronic items
NOTE: Do not throw out clothing and footwear items which are still in good condition. You can donate them to charity.
There are certain items and materials which require special disposals such as ashes, batteries and hazardous waste. Refer to Waste Watch Guidelines on IWMC website for information on how to dispose of those items.
If you are not sure where to sort a certain item, use the interactive sorting guide on the official website of the IWMC. [See related resources]
Garbage Collection
The garbage in black waste and green compost carts is collected weekly alternating between waste and compost carts. Recyclables are collected once or twice a month.
You are responsible for placing the carts or bags at the curb in front of your home within two metres from the street on collection days. Refer to IWMC's residential collection calendar for information on special collection days (like spring or fall cleanup), alternative pick-up days during holidays and to find out when green or black carts should be put out. For information on which day of the week is the pick-up day in your area, you can:
- ask your landlord or neighbours;
- use the search engine on PEI government website; or
- call the Island Waste Management Corporation (IWMC).
[See related resources]
Refundable Beverage Containers
When you buy a beverage, except dairy products, you pay a deposit for the glass or plastic bottle, or the aluminum can. You can get a cash refund for these containers when you return them to a depot location nearest you.
