Garbage and Recycling
Garbage Collection Schedule
Find out the complete schedule for garbage collection in Odanak
Garbage and Recycling
What materials are accepted in the recycling bin?
All containers, packaging, and printed materials except biodegradable plastics, aerosols, and Styrofoam (breaks down into small beads).
It’s now easier than ever. No need to check the numbers in the triangle (Möbius strip) or see if the plastic stretches. All containers, packaging, and printed materials except for the three exceptions are accepted in the recycling bin. Materials that were previously rejected, such as chip bags, cereal bags, candy bar wrappers, and many others, are now accepted.
What materials are not accepted in the recycling bin?
Biodegradable plastics, aerosols, and Styrofoam (breaks down into small beads).
Anything that is not a container, packaging, or printed material. No clothing, pool liners, garden hoses, dishes, etc.
Can I put all my materials in a bag or box and place the bag/box in the bin?
No! Materials must be loose in order to be properly sorted by the equipment at the sorting center. If materials are stuck in a box, they cannot be separated.
Do I need to rinse my containers?
Not necessarily. The important thing is to empty the container thoroughly. A quick rinse is sufficient to remove excess waste and keep your bin cleaner and odor-free for workers, but don’t waste water rinsing containers until they are completely empty!
Do I need to remove the labels from the containers?
No, it is not necessary to remove them. However, if you want to remove them, they will be recycled with the paper, which is even better.
Should I leave the caps on the bottles and jars?
Small caps up to 5 cm in size should remain on the container for recycling. Lids larger than 5 cm should be separated.
My aluminum foil is dirty. Should I throw it in the trash?
Even when dirty, aluminum can be recycled indefinitely. However, you can crumple it into a ball or fold the paper so that the dirty side is on the inside to avoid contaminating other materials in the bin.
Can I put returnable containers in the recycling bin?
Yes, you can put them in the recycling bin and they will be recycled, but you will not get the deposit refund.
When in doubt, which bin should I put my waste in?
When in doubt, it is better to put it in the black bin and not risk endangering the safety of workers and sorting center equipment. If this material is frequently present in your daily life, contact us or use the available tools to find out if it can go in the blue bin.
Why do we have to sort materials and only put out containers, packaging, and printed matter?
Each recycling stream is equipped to handle certain types of waste. It is therefore necessary to return waste to the right place so that it can be managed properly.
Why is it important to reduce landfill?
You probably know that before becoming a landfill site, the location in question is a natural environment that must be deforested. By reducing what we put in the black bin, we reduce the need for landfilling. This slows down the filling of these sites and delays the need to create new ones, which are always farther away and require even more transportation. This, in turn, helps protect our terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, our forests and the clean air they provide, the animals that live there and those we hunt, our rivers, and the fish we catch.
Furthermore, resource extraction—especially petroleum-based products—is highly polluting, and these resources are limited. It is therefore essential to reintegrate materials into a circular economy loop to reduce the demand for new resources. Through recycling, materials are transformed for another life cycle and re-enter the loop as many times as possible, avoiding the landfill and reducing the need for more new resources and the ever-growing space required to bury materials that are not recovered.
