Here are the answers to your most frequently asked questions. Feel free to give us a call at (416) 495-9914 if you have more questions.
It depends on what you mean by “recycling.” Recycling has a different definition depending on the material being “recycled” and who is executing the process.
Consider lamp recycling; many of the components of a used fluorescent lamp are not valuable or commonly reusable in another product or process. Lamp recycling is about preventing industrially altered methyl mercury from contaminating our water and fish. Recycling non-hazardous waste is about recovering valuable materials, keeping our landfills free and generally being responsible stewards of our natural resources.
Our opinion is that there is not enough emphasis on the recycling of toxic materials such as fluorescent bulbs and tubes, batteries, oils, paints and waste electronics. Most of the effort and awareness creation are focused on recycling products that are non-toxic. We think it is important to recycle as much as possible but it certainly cannot be argued that recycling a plastic bottle is more important than recycling a mercury-containing lamp. However, everyone in Ontario can conveniently and easily recycle an old plastic bottle but few people know where they can recycle old batteries, burnt out mercury-containing bulbs and other toxic materials we use every day.
Lamp recycling is more about diverting mercury away from landfills than it is about recovering materials for reuse. A larger portion of the processed lamp goes to a landfill, usually more than 60% as daily fill. This is considered beneficial reuse.
Lamp recycling is important because many bulbs and tubes contain mercury in an industrial altered form that is very harmful if accumulated in the environment.
If placed in a landfill, the mercury becomes an environmental threat that has the potential to migrate into air and water supplies. Benefits of the recycling of fluorescent lamps include saved landfill space, reduced raw material production needs, and the prevention of toxic material from entering the environment.
Batteries contain toxic acids, metals and other chemicals that can contaminate our water and land.
Our unique and patent pending recycling stations significantly reduce breakage keeping hazardous mercury from being released onto your property. The Solid Waste Storage Containers will safely hold all solid hazardous materials including all lamp types, batteries and small electronics.
We specialize in hard to recycle, universal hazardous and some hazardous wastes:
It depends on where you are, who you are, whether you are a business or a homeowner and what and how much of it you have. An interesting way to understand the cost of responsible disposal or recycling of universal hazardous waste and hard to recycle items is to compare the approximate purchase cost to the cost of responsibly disposing it.
When considering labour, freight and the actual recycling or treatment costs along with the approximate cost to buy new products, an interesting percentage emerges.
Except in odd cases, recycling is usually less than 25% of the initial purchase price and often times less than one or two percent.
We will help you as much or as little as you need with our variety of service level options. It depends on the customers’ specific needs.
Full Service
Our staff will come to your building and pick up your hard to recycle waste. We will collect all the waste that needs to be recycled and transport it safely to our warehouse.
Materials & Pick Up
We will send you the required materials to store your hard to recycle waste safely in and get them ready for pickup. The items will be picked up whenever they are good to go. Just give us a call and we will schedule a pickup.
Pick Up
Do you have everything packed safely and ready to go? Just fill in the Recycling Estimator or give us a call and we will pick up your hard to recycle waste at the earliest possibility.
Ship it to us
Are you located outside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) or are you located in the GTA and can ship your hard to recycle waste yourself? Send it to us! Just fill in the Recycling Estimator or give us a call and we can arrange the shipping process.
Milk run
This is our most popular service. They are run on a set schedule and occur on a regular basis. The frequency is determined by you and adjusted as necessary.
We always try to arrange the pickup as soon as possible and at your earliest convenience. Urgent pickup (next day service) is available if all the items are securely shrink wrapped and placed on a skid. Full Service is not always available for the next day. The sooner you place an order, the sooner we can process it.
We are a large volume handler of hard to recycle and universal hazardous waste. Through partnerships with various processors we are able to get our customers the lowest prices. We have a multitude of partners in Toronto, across Ontario and in the United States. Should you require or just want to know where your items are being recycled then we can provide a verified certificate for your recycled items.
You can count it or weigh it.
For commercial and industrial customers who generate a lot of waste, it can be difficult to know how much waste you actually have. Furthermore it can be difficult to allocate resources to collect all the waste or count it yourself.
That’s why we offer a full service level option where we come to your building and pick up all of your hard to recycle waste. Our staff will make sure that everything is handled in a safe and responsible way.
If it contains any liquid, no. Some paint is considered HHW (household hazardous waste) and cannot be thrown into the trash if it is not completely dry. Even if it is dry, contact your garbage company for specific requirements. But remember, if you recycle with us, we not only recycle the old paint, we recycle the plastic and metal container components, keeping virtually everything from entering the landfill.
The answer everyone hates to hear? It depends. Based on how you’ve stored your paint, it may last up to 10 years. On the other hand, if you’ve moved it in and out of your house and exposed it to extreme changes of temperature and light, it may only last for 6 months.
Paint recycling can reduce the amount of landfill waste by up to 96%.
While some of the items that are buried in landfill decompose over time, moisture and water can filter through the waste, picking up metals, minerals, organic chemicals, bacteria, viruses and other toxic materials. This contaminated water is called leachate. If the leachate is not contained, it can travel from the site and contaminate our ground and surface water. Modern landfills are engineered to meet strict rules and standards to collect and treat leachate, but even with these precautions, landfills are not the solution.
Your leftover paints are stored in the bins made to ensure the recovery of paints. It is then the responsibility of Waste Diversion to see that the containers are dispatched to the location where the products are recycled. A paint recycling factory sorts, filters, and reuses leftover paints to make and market new recycled paint.
Once waste paint is collected from us it is transported to a paint processor, it is then recycled into new paint. Unrecoverable waste paint is safely disposed.
We charge based on weight, distance, and the type of waste item (whether it is hazardous or not).
Everything can be included in our bundled recycling option for select customers. The bundled price includes container, transportation, tracking documents, processing, recycling, and certificate of materials recycled.
Reach us for your free estimate: (416) 495-9914.
Prior to cleaning up:
Open up a window and try to ventilate the room as much as possible and leave the room for about 5 to 10 minutes. (Watch out for the broken pieces and try to avoid walking through the broken glass);
If you have a central heating or air conditioning system, please turn it off.
Before you go back in the room and start cleaning:
Collect the right materials; tape, cardboard or stiff paper and wet wipes or a paper towel. A plastic bag or a glass jar with a metal lid (preferred method) can be used to store the broken lamp in.
When cleaning up:
Start by collecting all the glass and visible powder with the stiff paper or cardboard and dispose of it in the metal jar or plastic bag. We don’t recommend using a vacuum cleaner, because it will spread mercury powder into your house;
You can use the tape, wet wipes or paper towel to clean up the remaining small glass fragments and powder.
After the cleanup:
Store all the cleaned-up fragments of glass and powder in the jar or plastic bag and place it somewhere safe (preferably in a protected area until you can dispose of the materials)
