Markham's Garbage and Recycling Rules — Everything Residents Need to Know

The Clear Bag Rule — Markham's Most Important Waste Policy

Clear bags only. Markham will not collect black, dark, tinted, coloured, or white garbage bags. This is non-negotiable. Standard black garbage bags — the default purchase at most Canadian grocery and hardware stores — are simply not accepted. If you put your garbage out in black bags, it will not be picked up.

The reason is environmental and enforcement-driven. Clear bags allow waste collectors and automated processing systems to verify that recyclables and organics are not being disposed of as garbage — a key enforcement mechanism for Markham's mandatory separation bylaw. Clear bags that contain large amounts of recyclable material may also not be collected. Clear bags in regular garbage bag sizes are available at Markham grocery stores, pharmacies, and hardware stores. Stock up before your first collection day.

How Many Bags Can You Put Out?

There is no bag limit. Markham does not cap the number of clear garbage bags at the curb. Use a regular size clear garbage bag and keep it under 18 kilograms per bag. The one constraint applies to privacy bags: you can use up to 4 privacy bags per collection. Privacy bags are small, opaque bags — typically shopping-bag-sized — used to contain personal items you prefer not to display in a clear garbage bag. These must be placed inside your clear garbage bag or inside a garbage can, not set out independently.

Collection Schedule — What Gets Picked Up and When

Have your material out at the curb by 7 AM on your pickup day, or after 7 PM the night before. Holiday collection shifts apply whenever a statutory holiday falls between Tuesday and Friday — your collection shifts to the following day. Use the Access Markham app or markham.ca to download your specific collection schedule.

What Goes Where — Key Separations

Clear Bag Garbage

Accepts all waste that cannot go into the blue box or green bin. Renovation and construction materials including drywall, tiles, and concrete are not accepted at the curb. Grass clippings are not accepted at the curb — leave them on the lawn as mulch.

Blue Box Recycling

Accepts paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, metal cans, and eligible plastics per York Region's current guidelines. Styrofoam does not go in the blue box — it can be dropped off clean at any Markham Recycling Depot, where the city uses a condenser to recycle it into products such as photo frames.

Green Bin Organics

Accepts food waste, food-soiled paper products, and organic materials. Tie up all garbage and green bin bags — loose material will not be collected.

Electronics

Cannot be placed in garbage or recycling. Markham Recycling Depots accept electronics year-round. Electronics contain heavy metals and valuable recoverable materials including glass, plastic, gold, silver, copper, and palladium.

Bulky Items, Yard Material, and Special Programs

Bulky items — furniture, appliances, large household goods — are collected every other week on the same schedule as clear bag garbage. Place them at the curb in a clearly organized manner.

Markham's Curbside Giveaway Day is an annual Earth Day initiative where residents place unwanted items clearly marked "FREE" at the curb for neighbours to take. Items not claimed must be retrieved by 7 PM the same day. Markham Recycling Depots provide year-round drop-off for batteries, fluorescent lights, tires, electronics, cardboard, all blue box items, and textiles.

Why This Matters for New Markham Homeowners

Michael John Lau, REALTOR® at Kaizen Real Estate in Markham, Ontario, makes sure every buyer purchasing a Markham home understands the local waste rules before moving in. It is the kind of practical local knowledge — the details that actually affect day-to-day life from week one — that distinguishes a full-service real estate advisor from an agent who simply transacts and moves on.