To protect its employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bruce Area Solid Waste Recycling (BASWR) has made the difficult decision to stop sorting recyclables by hand, both at their facility and at the curbside. In Saugeen Shores, materials will still be picked up on their normal recycling day, but will be temporarily sent to the landfill.

In a March 25 Town COVID-19 update, BASWR is working on a longer-term solution to find a place that can accept the unsorted material but in the meantime, residents are asked to, if possible, consider holding on to recyclable materials.

As well, the Southampton Landfill is closed to the public. Account holders will be allowed access on March 27 and April 3 from 9:00 am to 4:45 pm only.

"Help us flatten the curve and keep our employees safe by using curbside garbage collection on your regular day," read the update.

When the COVID-19 situation improves, BASWR and the Southampton Landfill are expected to return to normal operations.

MARCH 26 UPDATE: Following a few reader inquiries, we reached out to the Town for clarity and unfortunately the blue box material is being sent to the landfill to be disposed of there for the time being. This is only a temporary solution but it is necessary to maintain the safety of the BASWR employees and to continue to meet the regulations guiding material handling at the landfill. The Town hopes BASWR finds a sorting facility soon that will accept these materials.

Until then residents are being encouraged to sort and store their blue box materials on their property. If this cannot be accommodated, materials will be collected on the normal recycling day. Residents are not expected to put these materials in their tagged garbage.

Also, regarding bag tags, they are still required and are available at many locations where groceries are purchased. The 25 lb maximum weight per bag or pail still applies.