Durham Region continues to provide essential waste management services to residents

Whitby, Ontario – The Region of Durham, Works Department, continues to ensure that services that have been identified as essential by the Province of Ontario, including waste management and household hazardous waste collection, will be completed safely and efficiently. With this in mind, our Regionally-operated Waste Management Facilities (WMF) and Household Hazardous Waste Depots will remain operational for as long as possible.

Please note, the Household Hazardous Waste Depot located in Pickering and privately operated by Miller Waste is closed.

To ensure we can continue operating, while ensuring the health and safety of both our employees and clients, we’ve implemented the following measures:

• As of March 18, the WMFs have stopped accepting cash payments.
• Staff have discontinued issuing inbound customers with paper tickets for specialty items.
• Staff are practicing physical distancing and are advising clients to do the same.
• As always, staff continue to wear personal protective equipment (PPE).
• To limit on-site activity, the WMFs will be queueing cars and only allowing a small number of cars on-site at a time as necessary.
• The WMFs have been receiving daily cleaning and disinfecting, and disinfectant is used at high volume touch and common areas, with a special focus on the debit/credit machines.
• The WMFs have supplies to ensure cleanliness, including hand sanitizer and cleaning products.
• The WMFs are limiting the number of people on-site at one time.
• The Oshawa WMF also temporarily closed the Paint Exchange portion of the facility, as it is a high-volume area that doesn’t allow for physical distancing.
• The WMFs have stopped providing dog treats and lollipops to customers with pets and children (a practice at some WMFs).
• The WMFs are following all Health and Safety protocols and staff are provided daily Health and Safety updates, especially as it pertains to personal safety and handwashing.
• The WMFs have increased the distance of the Hazardous waste drop-off table between clients and staff.
• The WMFs have also temporarily closed the donation bin and are not accepting items for reuse at this time.

Currently, the Regional WMFs are open Tuesday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Clarington Household Hazardous Waste Depot, located in Bowmanville, also remains open from Wednesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information about the Regional WMFs, including locations and accepted materials, visit durham.ca/WMF.

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“Our dedicated staff continue to deliver essential services that impact the everyday lives of the residents and businesses in the Region. While the situation continues to change on a daily basis, our residents can rely on us to provide these services. The health and safety of our staff and our waste management facility clients is our top priority, and the practices we’ve implemented will help us achieve this goal.”

Susan Siopis, Commissioner of Works, Region of Durham

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For more information, please contact Corporate Communications.