Recycling piles up in Dovercourt Village after new private service misses pickups
Residents in a Toronto neighbourhood say recycling has gone uncollected for 11 days after Circular Materials took over, with thousands of missed stops reported citywide.
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By Torontoer Staff
A Toronto neighbourhood is dealing with overflowing blue bins after recycling collection was missed repeatedly under the city’s new private contract. Residents in Dovercourt Village say recyclables have accumulated for 11 days, creating sidewalk congestion and frustration.
The missed collections coincide with the start of Circular Materials’ contract to manage recycling in Toronto. City and provincial officials, along with the contractor, describe the disruptions as transition issues, while affected residents say the problem is immediate and tangible.
What residents are experiencing
Keaton Crouse, a resident of Dovercourt Village, said his building missed two scheduled pickups in a row after the switch. He described overflowing bins, bags left beside containers and broken-down cardboard stacked on the sidewalk to make room.
They’re overflowing. People have bags next to it. They’ve got boxes all over the place. I’ve even seen my neighbour have to use my recycle bin just to find space. It’s been that bad.
Keaton Crouse
Crouse said his garbage and compost, which remain municipally managed, continued to be collected on schedule. The recycling backlog has forced neighbours to leave material at curbside and to share limited bin capacity.
Scale of missed pickups and official responses
Since Circular Materials took over on January 1, reports of skipped recycling stops have increased across the city. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said roughly 2,000 collection stops were missed during the transition, and he defended the move to a private contractor as a cost-saving measure.
Thank God we uploaded it, because it saves taxpayers tons of money in all municipalities, across all 444 municipalities in Ontario.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford
Circular Materials and partner GFL Environmental acknowledged early challenges and committed to resolving them. In a joint statement they attributed disruptions to the scale of the rollout and described the problems as start-up issues.
With Ontario representing the largest recycling transition ever undertaken in Canada, there have been some early transition challenges. Circular Materials and GFL remain jointly committed to resolving these start-up challenges and ensuring Toronto residents receive reliable recycling collection service.
Circular Materials and GFL Environmental
Why the change matters
The change moves recycling collection from the city to a private operator, a substantial logistical shift for a municipality of Toronto’s size. Officials say the contract should reduce costs, but the initial weeks have revealed coordination and execution problems that affect daily life for residents.
Missed recycling can create public-space clutter, attract pests and complicate cycling and pedestrian access when items spill onto sidewalks. For residents already managing limited storage space, repeated misses create immediate inconvenience and uncertainty about when service will return to normal.
What residents can do now
- Report missed pickups to the City of Toronto 311 service, and file a separate report with Circular Materials if contact information is available.
- Document missed collections with photos and timestamps. This helps councillor offices and city staff track problem areas.
- Secure recyclables in bags or containers and flatten cardboard to save space on the curb and reduce windblown litter.
- Contact your local city councillor’s office if the problem persists, and ask for an update on expected service restoration.
Some residents may also find temporary alternatives, such as holding cardboard until the next accepted collection, or using community drop-off points if those services are available. Check municipal resources before transporting materials to avoid fines or contamination of streams.
What to watch for next
Circular Materials says crews are working to resolve start-up problems and restore reliable service. For residents like Crouse, the immediate test will be whether the next scheduled collection arrives as planned. City staff and councillors are monitoring missed stops and asking the contractor for corrective action.
If collections remain inconsistent, the issue is likely to stay on municipal and provincial agendas as administrators balance cost savings with service reliability for a city of Toronto’s size.
Crouse said he hopes the company will stabilise schedules and communicate clearly about what went wrong and how future misses will be avoided. In the meantime, neighbours continue to manage growing piles of recyclables on the curb.
recyclingTorontoCircular Materialscity serviceswaste management
