Upcoming changes to waste collection

Updated July 11, 2025
February 25, 2025

New: Register your business for recycling services

When responsibility for providing recycling services shifts to Circular Materials under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act on January 1, 2026, many small businesses and institutional properties that currently participate in the municipal program will find themselves without recycling pick-up.

Oxford County Council is considering a curbside recycling collection program for this sector. In the coming weeks, an invitation to complete an online registration form will be sent to affected businesses to seek their interest in this service. There is no user fee for approved participants to take part in this program, which would begin the week of January 5, 2026, in all eight area municipalities.

What's changing

If you live in Oxford County, you'll see several changes to how garbage and recycling are collected beginning in 2026. Please check this page often for news and updates.

Recycling. Under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, responsibility for providing recycling services has now shifted onto the producers (retailers, manufacturers, etc.) that create products and packaging. This change began in July 2023 and takes effect in Oxford County on January 1, 2026. Visit Blue Box - RPRA to learn more.
Garbage collection. Beginning January 2026, the City of Woodstock and the Township of South-West Oxford will move to a rotating six-day collection cycle for waste. Aside from holidays, in most weeks this will advance your collection day by one day from week to week. Calendars and online tools will be provided to help you track your set-out days. All other municipalities in Oxford County will move to a six-day garbage collection schedule on May 1, 2027 (Blandford-Blenheim, East Zorra-Tavistock, Norwich, Ingersoll, Tillsonburg and Zorra). The change from weekly collection to a six-day cycle offers significant savings.
Organics (food waste). Beginning January 2026, the City of Woodstock and the Township of South-West Oxford will begin co-collecting (collecting at the same time) garbage and organics on a six-day collection cycle. In May of 2027, all other municipalities will be able to set out organics along with their waste (Blandford-Blenheim, East Zorra-Tavistock, Norwich, Ingersoll, Tillsonburg and Zorra). All households in Oxford County will be provided with a green bin and instructions on how to sort and set out organics.

Where to find more information

Oxford County is responsible for waste collection services across Oxford's local area municipalities. In the Township of South-West Oxford and the City of Woodstock, this service is contracted out to the local municipality. In all other municipalities, Oxford contracts this service to a third-party vendor, currently Emterra Environmental. Learn more and watch for updates from the following resources.