Waste and Recycling

A valid Algonquin Highlands Landfill User ID card is required to be presented to the attendant before accessing any Algonquin Highlands waste management site. New landfill cards are issued every two years and are mailed to you with your tax bill. You should have received a new bright pink card with you interim tax bill mailed out in February 2023.

Have you lost your landfill card? Replacement cards can be requested. Please use our online request form. Once we receive your completed a replacement card will be mailed to you. Take good care of your card! You are welcome to laminate it, apply protective coatings, secure it in a case, etc. Please note that digital copies (photographs, scans, etc.) and other types of reproductions are not acceptable.

If you are hiring a contractor who will be taking waste to the landfill on your behalf, you are required to fill out a Contractor Authorization Permit. This permit will allow your contractor to use our landfill and shows the Attendant that the waste originated within our municipality.

Do you rent your cottage on a short term basis? If so, you know the hassles of trying to manage your landfill cards. There is now a great alternative available ... The Cottage Kit!

The Cottage Kit offers a convenient, affordable and simple alternative to managing your landfill cards at your rental cottage. The kit contains everything a person or family renting a cottage needs in order to manage their garbage and recycling for a week -- recycling and landfill info, recycling and garbage bags, plus a one-time Landfill Pass that eliminates the need for a landfill card. No more having to back-track to the cottage to leave the landfill card for the next renters. That means more time to enjoy the cottage! Available for purchase -- $3 each or ten kits for $25 -- at the municipal office in Stanhope and from the attendant at Maple Lake, Dorset Transfer Station or Oxtongue Lake landfill site. For more information on The Cottage Kit click here.

As of January 1, 2008, all household garbage must be in a clear bag or open container, so that all waste is visible and easily identified by the Attendant. The purpose of this regulation is to help ensure that recyclables and hazardous waste materials do not end up in our landfills. If any recyclable materials or prohibited waste are found within the clear bags, the bags will be refused or the Attendant will ask you to remove and properly sort the waste.

Illegal dumping is the dumping of waste anywhere except at an approved waste disposal site. This includes in the woods, along the side of the road, on private property, in someone else’s dumpster without permission, or at the gate of a waste management site. Illegal dumping is costly to taxpayers and damaging to the environment. Incidents of illegal dumping are investigated by the By-law Enforcement Officer, and offenders could receive fines of $300 per incident.

Algonquin Highlands is bear country and bears love garbage. But with careful management of your waste, you can reduce the chance of attracting bears to your property:

Do not stockpile garbage. Take it to the landfill frequently.
Keep meat scraps and cooked food waste in the freezer until you are ready to take it to the landfill.
Store garbage in a bear-resistant container, secure shed or garage.
Never put meat, bones, fish or dairy products in your compost bin.
For more information on what you can do to reduce the chance of attracting bears to your home or cottage, visit the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF) Bear Wise website. To report a bear problem, contact the OMNRF Bear Reporting Line at 1-866-514-2327, TTY 705-945-7671. In an immediate emergency, call your local police or 9-1-1.