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Sioux Lookout, ON – The Municipality of Sioux Lookout has been receiving an increase in the number of comments and complaints about recycling pickup in recent weeks.

The rules for what items can be put in your Blue Box, the containers B&M Delivery will accept recyclable items in, and how cardboard is bundled for pickup have not changed, but are being more strictly enforced.

One major issue lately has been glass in the recycle bins. Glass is not collected for recycling in Sioux Lookout. If glass is found in your Blue Box, crews will not sort it out – the entire Blue Box will be left behind.

Another practice that was overlooked in the past was putting cardboard out for recycling inside another cardboard box. That will no longer be accepted and will be left behind as well. Cardboard is accepted in the following ways:

  • Bundles that weight less than 33lbs and are less than 39”x39” (1m x 1m)
  • Broken down and placed inside Blue Boxes marked with a white recycle logo

Acceptable Blue Box options include:

  • Any blue bin marked with a white recycle logo
  • Blue Rubbermaid-style totes with a recycle logo sticker
  • Blue garbage can-style bins with a recycle logo sticker
  • Other blue recycling containers in good working condition featuring a white recycle logo

Recycle logo stickers to mark your bins and totes as recycling containers are available to all residents, free of charge, from the Public Works Department, 41 Fifth Avenue, from 8:00 a.m. until noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. weekdays, excluding statutory holidays. Any bins left out without the white recycle logo (including the free recycling stickers) will not be collected by B&M Delivery.

Please note: B&M Delivery will not be responsible for damages any containers not designed for Blue Box use. Regular plastic totes aren’t designed for the impacts of cold weather use and may crack or snap under normal handling.

Clear plastic bags will only be accepted if they contain shredded paper. No other recycling materials will be accepted in clear plastic bags.

Remember, all items left for recycling should be clean and free of contamination. That means caps and lids removed, food residue rinsed off, and cardboard should be flattened.

Here is a reminder of which materials can be left out for Blue Box collection:

  • Plastics (including lids) stamped 1 through 7, washed or rinsed with caps/lids removed
  • Steel or tin cans, washed or rinsed with no food residue
  • Aluminum cans, rinsed
  • Polycoat and TetraPak containers (milk/juice cartons), rinsed
  • Newspapers, inserts, and flyers
  • Household paper and envelopes
  • Shredded paper, in clear bags
  • Magazines, phone books, and books, hard covers removed
  • Cardboard boxes, flattened (bundled and tied if not inside Blue Box)
  • Boxboard (cereal/cracker/tissue/etc boxes), flattened
  • Cardboard egg cartons and paper tubes
  • Disposable flower pots

Any items not on the above list should NOT be in your Blue Box and will result in your Blue Box not being collected that week. This includes empty oil containers (IE: motor oil and other petroleum/hazardous waste containers), even if stamped with recycling numbers 1 through 7 – whether rinsed out or not.

If you experience any problems with recycling pick-up on your scheduled day, please reach out to B&M Delivery at (807) 223-3298 to discuss it.

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 For more information, please contact:
Brian P. MacKinnon, Manager of Corporate Services/Municipal Clerk
807-738-2170 or [email protected]

PDF version available to download at link below.

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