King champions sustainability with textile diversion, battery and electronic recycling, and community environmental events
Township of King, Ont. (February 4, 2026) — King Township is committed to sustainable waste habits, encouraging everyone to embrace the five R’s—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose and Repair—as the community continues making real progress in keeping waste out of the landfill.
Ontario’s landfills are filling up fast, making local waste diversion efforts more important than ever. Recent data shows the province generated 16.88 million tonnes of waste in 2024, with 12.75 million tonnes ending up in landfills, and current landfill capacity could run out by 2037.
Waste diversion plays a key role in supporting a Circular Economy and aligning with the King Community Climate Action Plan. King Township has set a 35 per cent community emissions reduction target by 2030 based on data from the 2018 community emissions inventory. The inventory listed solid waste (including recyclables, compostable materials and garbage) as contributing 1,283 tonnes of CO2e greenhouse gas emissions. For more information, visit king.ca/CommunityClimateChange.
Reducing waste sent to landfill through community initiatives and programs directly reduces methane emissions. The Township’s efforts have recently been expanded to now include used pens, pencils, markers, and ink cartridges through the new TerraCyle recycling waste diversion pilot program.
TerraCycle: Drop off dried up markers, crayons, broken pencil crayons and ink cartridges for proper processing through TerraCycle’s hard to recycle waste stream with boxes now available at all King Township Public Library branches. For locations, visit king.ca/TerraCycle.
The collected materials are ground down into plastic pellets. Manufacturing companies purchase the recycled material and repurpose it into new products, including outdoor furniture and decking, plastic shipping pallets, watering cans, storage containers and bins, tubes for construction applications, flooring tiles, playground surface covers, and athletic fields. For more information, visit terracycle.com.
Textile diversion: Give old textiles new life! Textile donation bins, available 24/7 at community facilities, provide secure and convenient drop-off points for used textiles. Since its inception in March 2017, King has successfully diverted 486,273 lbs of textiles from landfill sites, with 109,708 lbs diverted in 2025 alone. For donation locations or to schedule a pick up, visit king.ca/TextileDiversion.
Battery recycling: Batteries contain heavy metals and toxic chemicals, making proper disposal critical. King Township's Battery Recycling Program in partnership with Call 2 Recycle allows residents to dispose of single-use batteries at designated locations, preventing harmful materials from entering landfills. All collected batteries are sorted and recycled to reclaim valuable materials. Since the program’s launch in 2017, 6,251 lbs of batteries have been collected. For drop-off locations, visit king.ca/BatteryRecycling.
Springing into cleaner homes
Is your mind on warmer weather and the spring cleaning that comes with it? King Township has many opportunities to properly dispose of or give a second life to your unwanted items, including electronic-waste events during the warmer seasons, Curbside Giveaway Days in partnership with York Region (April to October), Repair Cafes hosted in partnership with NewMakeIt and York Region and the annual Community Yard Sale/ Community Electronic Recycling event in May.
By reducing waste and supporting King’s diversion programs, we can help extend landfill life, protect natural resources, and move toward a more sustainable and greener community for future generations.
For more information, visit king.ca/WasteDiversion.
Volunteer to help green King
With 2,151 volunteers giving their time at environmental events throughout the year, there is plenty of opportunity to give back to the community. From becoming a Waste Champion at King Township events (including the upcoming Maple Syrup Fest), planting a tree or participating in a community cleanup, volunteering is a rewarding experience and a great way to earn high school volunteer hours.
For more information, visit king.ca/volunteers.
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Media Contact(s)
Township of King
Rebecca Streef, Communications Intern
Township of King | Phone: 905-833-4575 | Email: media@king.ca