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(Stock photo)

Transition to clear garbage bags starts March 3

Anyone with black garbage bags has just over a month to get them to the curb.

The District of Muskoka Engineering and Public Works committee will get an update on the transition to clear garbage bags during their Jan. 22 meeting.

The clear bag program is set to take effect at the curb starting the week of March 3, 2025. The program requires garbage to be set out in clear plastic bags instead of opaque black, green, or other colored plastic bags. 

According to the report, there will be some flexibility in the first four weeks of the program. During this period, when materials are set out in opaque bags and/or clear bags contain divertible materials, a reminder notice, including customer service information along with a GLAD clear garbage bag discount coupon and/or sample, may be left at the curbside to help residents make the adjustment. After this initial period, garbage set out at the curb not in compliance with the program will be tagged with a sticker to flag the issue and will not be collected.

For privacy, residents can place up to two small privacy bags, such as a regular-sized opaque grocery bag, to hide items in their clear bag. For added privacy, residents can also still place their garbage into a rigid container, as long as the waste is contained in a clear plastic bag.

All District waste drop-off facilities will continue to accept opaque plastic garbage bags until January 2026. After this date, these facilities will also transition to the clear bag program. 

From 2026 onwards, residents may still transport and dispose of waste in opaque garbage bags at all District Transfer Stations but will be required to pay tipping fees for all bags at the Mixed Waste rates, which is nearly double the price per tonne for sorted materials.

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16 Comments

  1. Brenda Begg says:

    I purchased clear kitchen bags at Canadian Tire and Metro. That was several months ago when I was on the hunt for clear bags. They cost more than the white kitchen catchers that come in a box of 50 or more. The larger clear bags are more plentiful. Stores need to stock more of the smaller ones for our area.

  2. Bill Coon says:

    Just Perhaps…
    If one collection employee is spared from being jabbed with a used needle or cut with a shard of glass, or if one lithium ion battery is diverted from ending up in our landfill, then maybe this HUGE sacrifice we are making will be worth it!

  3. Michael O'Mara says:

    Thanks Bill for your great idea . I can now live the rest of my life in peace .Life is good .Thanks again Bill .Your friend mike

  4. Rose Armishaw says:

    I don’t think clear bags are the answer to what ever the question was. Inside my home I decide what to put in the garbage, I recycle I use the clear bags but what I decide is nobody’s business or I think is to dirty or whatever is my business. Let’s make it even easier for identification theirs. I don’t need anyone looking over my shoulder and tsk tsking about what I threw out. CANADA NOT RUSSIA.

  5. Bill Spring says:

    Maybe the neighbourhood could pitch in to help Mike use up those bags by dropping off some garbage at his place.

  6. Michael O'Mara says:

    I bought two boxes of garbage bags last year super deal.; half price , 150 bags in a box total 300 bags.My thought was at the time I was saving big Bucks and knowing we use one bag or less a week that this purchase would last me the rest of my life. I’m devastated . In order to use them up by March I’ll have to use over eight bags a day . I can’t afford that much food to cause that much garbage a day.I hope to have this figured out by March. Michael O’Mara

  7. Verda-Jane Hudel says:

    The garbage laws are creating more problems than ever existed before. Only in Muskoka!

  8. Norm Raynor says:

    When I searched Canadian Tire’s website I found they do sell a good selection of clear bags. They also sell a transparent blue bag. Will the transparent bags be acceptable?

    More than once I have put things in the blue box that the collectors have rejected. That item then goes into the garbage for the next collection. If garbage is rejected then I might have to put it in the blue box the following week. The collectors will reject what shouldn’t be in the blue box. The next week I will put the rejected items in the garbage for the next collection. After a couple weeks I will have everything in the proper bag or box ……. Or I might check out the district website to see what goes where.

  9. Murray Christenson says:

    I usually put 3 or 3 and a half opaque kitchen bags in my black garbage bags…so now we are limited to 2? This idea keeps getting better and better!

  10. Brent Statten says:

    Ravens, crows, squirrels and gulls have amazing eyesight. They also have puzzle solving brains, unlike the district staff and councillors responsible for this pointless technocratic green-washing scam. This will result in garbage strewn streets and roads as birds tear apart bags. Regardless of diversion to compost the clear bags will attract more animals.

    The district has also already blown the money saved on uploading services to the province while making massive cuts to service. More Fees will be next.

    Local governments don’t have a revenue problem they have an out of control spending problem.

  11. Ralph Cliffe says:

    Cannot locate clear bags locally.
    Amazon has clear garbage bags.
    Price per 100 runs from $25 to $60 depending on make.
    Is district paying for these bags or does it come out of my food money?
    The house holds are just making more room in the landfill for the coffee cups and fast food containers!
    The consumer always gets shafted, never the companies that create the garbage.

  12. Linda Krauss says:

    I called the proper department to ask my question, but she did not know. But, she did admit it was a good question.
    So, I am asking here so someone in the know who knows can tell me?

    Poop bags don’t come in clear bags. When the collectors come, will they know it’s poop bags in those clear bags and accept them? Or will I get an “oops” sticker.

    Or, do I have to hide them in my one allowable opaque bag within the clear bag.

    I’m sure there are other items deserving of this attention?

  13. JIm Simpson says:

    Before the topic of clear garbage bags was launched I purchased a box of 100 black garbage bags. I have no objection to the concept however I still have half a box of black bags, what do I do throw them in the landfill?
    We only use one bag each collection even in the winter months, I think a longer transition window would have been more desirable.

  14. Richard Ott says:

    Been unable to locate any clear garbage bags for this brilliant idea from district.
    Come march if my black garbage bags are not collected for the lack of clear bags
    they can sit by the side of the road for ever until collected.
    Maybe even torn open by animals and spread all along major roads.
    Lets hope district can get its act together before the dead line?

  15. Kathryn Henderson says:

    I really dont like the idea of clear bags. I have a ton of black garbage bags which woll be useless. I recycle and do the gsrbage the proper wstllay as im sure most people do
    Now im getting.policed on my garbage. Ridiculous

  16. Craig Nakamoto says:

    I hope the local stores wil be smart and place clear bags front and center and possibly even add a sign that reminds customers that they need to start using clear bags. This will help a lot. Consumer sized black bags should be harder (or impossible) to purchase.