November 27, 2024  —  The City of Sarnia is prepared to introduce changes to waste collection schedules starting January 6, 2025.

On November 18, City Council adopted a Waste Master Plan, and approved initial plan recommendations, including:

  • Optimization of collection routes to improve efficiency and reduce instances of delays in collection
  • Transitioning curbside yard waste collection to a bi-weekly schedule in alternating zones between April and December
  • Elimination of one-week January curbside Christmas tree collection, and adding options for drop-off of Christmas trees in January

As a result of the changes to routes, some residents may see their collection day and zone change starting January 6.

Residents can now visit www.sarnia.ca/CollectionDays to enter their address and check their new collection day / zone. More information on the changes to waste collection can be found at www.sarnia.ca/2025WasteFAQ.

Recycling collection is not delivered by the City and is provided locally by Circular Materials Ontario. The changes in days and zones will, however, also apply to recycling collection, with details related to recycling collection included in the City’s collection schedule.

There are areas where the change in zone would have caused a three-week gap in delivery of recycling collection. In these areas there will be an additional collection of recycling, eliminating a service gap by providing back-to-back recycling collection across two weeks. Specifically:

  • The area bounded by Indian Road, Brigden Road, Confederation Street/Confederation Line and the City boundary will have recycling collected on the weeks of Dec. 30, 2024 and Jan. 6, 2025
  • The area bounded by Brigden Road, Mandaumin Road, Lake Huron, and Confederation Line will have recycling collection on the weeks of Jan. 6 and 13, 2025

While City Council has adopted a new Waste Master Plan, which includes recommendations for the delivery of curbside collection of organics, no decisions have been finalized related to this service. Decisions related to garbage and organics collection service levels and schedules will be reviewed by Council in 2025 and 2026.