Northern Wellington county residents will soon join a growing number of communities across midwestern Ontario using large wheeled carts for curbside recycling.
Beginning in mid-August, households in Mapleton, Minto and Wellington North will switch from traditional blue boxes to 360-litre recycling carts.
The change is being introduced across all of Wellington County.
"Starting in mid-August, Wellington County will transition to an enhanced curbside recycling system that includes a new recycling cart and collection schedule," Circular Materials said.
Carts have been delivered throughout July. Once the new service begins for a household, blue boxes will no longer be accepted at the curb.
"Recycling collection moves to every other week," Circular Materials said.
Collection days will remain the same, with recycling picked up during the opposite week from garbage.
The cart rollout does not change Wellington County’s garbage or green-bin programs. Garbage will continue to be collected every other week using the county’s user-pay bag system, while green-bin organics will remain on a weekly schedule.
The eventual move to wheeled carts was discussed by Wellington North council in February 2025, before producers assumed responsibility for residential recycling.
Council was told the transition was expected to save Wellington County almost $2 million and would likely result in carts being introduced for households.
Wellington County continues to provide a separate business recycling-cart service in several communities, including Arthur, Mount Forest, Drayton, Moorefield, Clifford, Harriston and Palmerston.
The northern Wellington change comes as more municipalities throughout midwestern Ontario move toward automated cart collection.
In Grey County, Grey Highlands and Southgate were already using carts before Hanover introduced recycling carts in 2025. West Grey added recycling carts last year and garbage carts in June, while Georgian Bluffs and Chatsworth launched cart-based collection systems in July.
In Huron County, North Huron made garbage and recycling carts mandatory earlier this month, and Howick is scheduled to begin automated collection in August. Other municipalities including Goderich, Central Huron, Huron East, Morris-Turnberry, Bluewater and South Huron, were already using automated carts through the Bluewater Recycling Association.
In Perth County, Stratford switched to 360-litre recycling carts in January, while North Perth, Perth East, Perth South, West Perth and St. Marys were already part of automated recycling programs.
Most Bruce County municipalities have not made the same change. Although residential recycling responsibility shifted to producers at the beginning of 2026, communities including Kincardine, Huron-Kinloss, Brockton, South Bruce and South Bruce Peninsula have continued using conventional blue boxes.
Some municipalities have said their current collection vehicles cannot empty the larger carts being used elsewhere.
Wellington County residents can reuse their old blue boxes or take them to a county waste facility for recycling at no charge. The boxes will not be picked up at the curb.
Residents can contact Waste Management at 1-800-561-1655 or [email protected] to confirm collection information or report a missed pickup.
