More than 100 communities across Alberta will start receiving curbside recycling services for the first time starting Thursday through the province’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy. The policy was first introduced in April, but is now fully operational in 104 communities. “These changes are really the culmination of regulations passed back in 2022 that made producers responsible for financing and managing these programs in conjunction with municipalities across the province,” said Allen Langdon, CEO of Circular Materials. Circular Materials is a non-profit producer responsibility organization that organizes and oversees the recycling of single-use packaging and plastics in Alberta. All 287 municipalities in the program will also see an expansion of materials that can be recycled, including meat trays and styrofoam, all plastic packaging like coffee bags, chip bags, bubble wrap, snack wrappers, cereal liner bags and plastic gift bags. Under the EPR, producers now cover about $110 million in yearly costs that were previously put on municipalities and taxpayers. Producers could be large retail stores or consumer goods companies that supply packaging to residents or other businesses. “All of those companies are producers, and they’re responsible for paying for the amount of packaging they supply to Alberta residents,” explained Langdon. “That amount is based on the amount of packaging, but also the type of packaging.” For example, plastic takes more to process than cardboard, making it more expensive to recycle. Existing facilities will support Circular Materials in transition to the new program while a facility is renovated in Calgary and a new one is built in Edmonton. “They’ve been working for us in the last 18 months and they’ll continue to work for us for the next few months while we wait for those new facilities to come on stream,” said Langdon. What Edmontonians can expect Edmontonians need not expect any service delivery changes, but will now be able to recycle more items. “Some of the significant changes are all takeout containers,” said Shawn Gray, waste outreach coordinator with the City of Edmonton. “One of the things to keep in mind with takeout containers is that if there is any food residue, to scrape that into your food scraps cart and then put it into the recycling. Maybe give it a rinse before to get it a little clean.” Takeout containers include coffee cups and other single-use beverage containers. Chip, coffee, cereal and frozen fruit bags are also part of the additions, which the city asks residents ensure are clean before recycling. “We’re happy residents are going to be able to put more materials into their recycling, but we also want to remember that recycling is the third of the ‘3Rs’ … Reduce, reuse, recycle, and they’re ordered of importance,” said Gray. The city offers services like its Reuse Centre which accepts hundreds of used items like arts and craft supplies, household items and stationary that Edmontonians can pick up for free. A full guide of what can be recycled, composted, and disposed of in the landfill, can be found online. “Typically things that are thrown in the garbage don’t get sorted, that’s why it’s so important for residents to sort at the time of disposal to make sure the appropriate things are going into the food scrap pails and the appropriate things are going in the recycling,” said Gray. Items like electronics, batteries and hazardous waste should always be taken to an Eco Station for safe disposal. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nicole Weisberg
