In 1999, Markham became the first municipality in York Region to offer public space recycling to its residents. Since this time, the Town has expanded its Silver Box Public Space Recycling Program to over 150 locations within Markham - at transit stops and street corners.

The Silver Box public space recycling containers used in Markham have three slots to collect landfill waste, cans and bottles and paper separately. Designed to reduce litter and increase recycling, these bins make it easy and fun to recycle away from home.

Please do your part and place your waste in the proper receptacles. Your effort really does make a difference in the amount of waste that is recycled.

What can be recycled »

Super Mailbox Recycling Program

In Markham over 25% of residents do not receive door-to-door mail delivery and must collect their mail at centralized "Super Mailbox" locations. 

As part of Markham’s anti-litter campaign, and based on requests from many Markham residents, we have placed 1,500 large mail recycling boxes by every Canada Post Super Mailbox in the community. 

The purpose of the program is to reduce litter found at Super Mailboxes and to ensure that it goes to the right place - recycling. 

The mailbox recyclable's are collected by our contractor, Miller Waste, on the same day as the residential Blue Box in each area of the community once a week.

What can be recycled »

Parks Recycling Program

Markham has an expansive public space recycling program. This includes 450 recycling containers in our Parks and sport fields. There are also organics containers at our leash free dog parks for collection of pet waste. The Parks recycling containers accept all Blue Box recyclable's, which can be mixed together because they are sorted after collection at the recycling facility.

What can be recycled »

Big Blue Belly Recycling Program

In 2011, Markham officially launched the use of Big Blue Belly solar compactors in its two heritage business improvement areas – Markham and Unionville Main Streets. Markham introduced 12 Big Blue Belly recycling units in each community in order to increase sidewalk recycling options and keep our busy Main Streets clean.

The Big Blue Belly is a solar powered outdoor recycling receptacle which will compact recyclable's down to one-fifth of the regularly-collected volume. When the contents of the Big Blue Belly unit reach a certain level, they are automatically compacted, making room for more. In addition to solar-activated compaction, each unit is equipped with wireless software that can alert Markham staff via computer when the container is full and needs to be emptied.

The Big Blue Belly unit takes up as much space as the "footprint" of an ordinary recycling receptacle; however, its capacity is five times greater. Increased capacity reduces collection trips and can cut fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by 80%. Markham is making a highly innovative use of renewable power to improve municipal operations and reduce costs.

Safe, easy to use, and designed to keep out pests, the Big Belly has already proven its worth in urban streets, parks, colleges, arenas—and in all weather conditions. The Big Belly units are being used for garbage collection in Philadelphia, Boston, New York and the Town of Banff, Alberta. Markham is the first municipality in North America to use Big Blue Belly solar powered compactor units to collect recyclable's, rather than waste.

What can be recycled »

All Public Space containers are for recyclable's only. Please do not put dog poop or garbage in any of these containers. Thanks for being kind to our collectors.