Orange Drop

The Orange Drop Program provides Ontario residents with a free, safe and easy way to dispose of household products that require special handling. Fully funded by industry, this network of convenient drop-off sites accepts five materials. The objective of the Orange Drop Program is to recover and recycle, or safely dispose of, these materials to ensure they don’t end up in landfills, or poured down sewers and drains.Through Orange Drop, you can return any of the program’s five designated materials to your Municipal Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Depot, to collection events, to many retailers (batteries), to automotive locations (oil containers, oil filters and antifreeze) and, in the case of non-refillable pressurized containers, to a large number of Ontario Parks.

CHARGES AT POINT OF SALE

The Orange Drop Program is fully funded by industry under a model called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The businesses that produce and market the products managed under the Orange Drop program cover the program costs of collection and management once the consumer has finished using their product. Individual stewards and retailers determine how they treat these costs within their supply chain and whether they wish to recoup or absorb those costs as they do with other supply chain costs. These brand owners may choose to pass the cost of paying for the program on to retailers, who, in turn, may choose to show a fee separately at point of sale. Stewardship Ontario does not make decisions about how retailers price their products.

CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT

Our research shows that children and young people really influence the product comsumption and recycling behaviours of their parents. So, we gear many of our Orange Drop Events to this age group. We make sure that we participate in events where we can meet you and share our enthusiasm about recycling.In 2010, our Orange Drop Tour took part in 86 events throughout the province, with a combined attendance of over 4.7 million people. Take a look at a few snapshots of some of the many events we’ve attended over the past few years:

WHAT HAPPENS TO MY WASTE?
The Orange Drop program safely manages five materials to end-of-life, diverting harmful substances from landfill and waterways. Many of the materials collected through the Orange Drop Program, such as pressurized containers and batteries are reprocessed, refurbished or reused to make new products—easing the demand for energy and virgin resources.

We’re a not-for-profit organization funded and governed by the industries that are the brand owners, first importers or manufacturers of the products and packaging materials managed under our recycling programs. We operate the Blue Box curbside recycling program for printed paper and packaging and the Orange Drop recycling and safe disposal program for hazardous or special waste.

WHAT CAN I DROP?

• Single-Use Batteries
• Pressurized Cylinders that held Propane, Oxygen, Helium or Other Gasses
• Vehicle Engine Antifreeze/Coolant and its Containers
• Empty Lubricating Oil Containers
• Oil Filters

There are many drop sites throughout Ontario accepting hazardous or special waste:

• 200 return-to-retail locations (batteries)
• 87 municipal household hazardous waste depots
• Over 2,500 battery drop-off locations
• 85 provincial parks where non-refillable propane cylinders are collected from campers
• Nearly 600 automotive DIY drop-off sites (antifreeze, oil containers and oil filters)
• 10,000 + automotive service centre locations (antifreeze, oil containers and oil filters) for commercial users
• 300 + annual collection events