Clear Bags

This program is a transition from the use of black opaque garbage bags to clear plastic garbage bags for curbside collection in South Glengarry.

There are many benefits of a clear garbage bag program, including:

• More recyclables will be diverted from garbage.

• It will save space in South Glengarry’s two landfills, Beaver Brook and North Lancaster, extending their lifespan. Closing a municipal landfill has a hefty price tag.

• Garbage collectors will be able to see what is inside the bags, avoiding dangerous items like sharp glass or needles.

• It will help keep hazardous items like lithium-ion batteries, paint, medicines, oil, and gasoline out of the regular waste stream.

On May 26, 2025, Township Council will be voting on a staff recommendation to proceed with the implementation of a program to transition from black opaque bags to clear plastic garbage bags for waste collection.

The staff recommendation is to soft launch a voluntary program on January 1, 2026 to provide sufficient lead-time for retailers to stock clear bags and allow residents time to use up their existing supplies of opaque bags.

During the soft launch period (January 1, 2026 – April 3, 2026)

The soft launch would end on April 6, 2026, when the program would become mandatory. After April 6, waste not placed in clear bags would not be collected until the unaccepted recyclable materials were sorted out to the appropriate diversion stream (blue box, household hazardous waste, etc…).

The Clear Bag program would apply to all curbside waste collected by the Township. If you set your garbage out for weekly pickup, you would need to use clear bags.

The landfills would no longer accept opaque bags beginning January 1, 2026

Yes, clear garbage bags could be placed within a garbage can, bin or container. Ultimately, as with many aspects of the clear bag program, all that would be changing is the colour of the garbage bag you are using for your garbage.

It’s important to understand even with opaque bags, your waste is not entirely private, as bags can be torn apart by wildlife, or investigated at any time.

The recommended program includes a “privacy bag” allowance. That means you could place up to one small opaque bag, think grocery bag-sized, inside each larger clear bag. This lets you shield items you don’t want others to see, including sanitary products, shredded financial information, and medical/pharmaceutical objects (bags, tubes – not needles).

Incontinence products could be placed in the privacy bag(s) or in a clear plastic bag(s) inside a rigid curbside container to keep them out of sight.

To keep your private information safe, we encourage shredding sensitive documents before recycling in the curbside blue bin program.

If you are already doing a great job at recycling, composting and diverting materials from our landfill, thank you! This change should be easy for you, you just need to switch to clear bags. This program is to encourage everyone, to work diligently and make conscious decisions to divert more material from the landfill.

The landfills would no longer accept opaque bags beginning January 1, 2026.

Many places already use clear bag programs, including Cornwall, Leeds and Grenville, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Muskoka, Markham, Dufferin County, Goderich, and many more!

To date, over two million Canadian households now participate in clear bag garbage collection programs and the municipal waste diversion achievements are typically over 55%, some as high as 80% (e.g., Markham). After one year of the clear bag program being in place, The City of Markham saw an 11% increase in diversion. When Markham switched to a clear bag garbage collection program, there was very limited initial public support of the program, but several years after implementation, 100% of the residents surveyed indicated that they are supportive of the program.

We encourage you to attend one of the two Community Consultation sessions offered:

Thursday April 24, 2025

Presentation followed by Q&A

Begins at 5:30pm

Tartan Hall

19740 John St, Williamstown

Thursday May 1, 2025

Presentation followed by Q&A

Begins at 2:30pm

Martintown Community Centre

4850 County Rd 20, Martintown

You can also e-mail your questions or comments to the Infrastructure Services team at infrastructure@southglengarry.com