The expanded list of recyclable materials is attributed to a new provincewide policy called Extended Producer Responsibility.

Calgarians can now deposit more material in their blue carts, thanks to the the adoption of new recycling regulations across Alberta.

Starting Thursday, Calgary households can recycle four new streams of material, including select foam packaging, aerosol canisters, food and snack packaging, and tubes.

Foam packaging includes foam blocks, food takeout containers and egg cartons, while eligible aerosol cannisters include cooking spray, whipped cream, sunscreen and hairspray.

Flexible plastic bags refer to crinkly food wrappers like chip bags and granola bar wrappers, while tubes include toothpaste and deodorant containers.

A full list of recyclable material is available at calgary.ca/recycling

To ensure material can be recycled, the contents should be fully used and excess residue should be rinsed out as much as possible before they are placed in the blue cart.

The expanded list of recyclables is thanks to a new provincial recycling regulation called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) which puts the financial onus on manufacturers to cover the costs associated with collecting, sorting and recycling materials.

Allen Langdon, chief executive of Circular Materials, a non-profit producer responsibility organization that helps manufacturers meet their EPR obligations, said the new framework has created a more consistent and convenient recycling system, provincewide.

He noted that 287 communities in Alberta are participating in EPR, with 119 using a curbside collection program.

“This is another step in making recycling easier and more convenient, while helping us to support increased recovery rates,” Langdon said at a city-hosted news conference at the East Calgary Landfill on Thursday,

“This is a critical step toward establishing Alberta as a North American centre of excellence for plastics diversion and recycling.”

While the province first announced the transition toward EPR in 2022, the first phase of the policy began in April 2025. The second phase went into effect Oct. 1 and will expand the range of materials accepted in residential recycling programs.

Under the EPR framework, producers will cover $110 million in annual costs that were previously funded by municipalities and taxpayers, Langdon noted.

“With EPR now rolled out across the province, Albertans will begin to see the benefits of an enhanced recycling system,” he said.

In Calgary, the shift to EPR meant families saved about $7 on their monthly blue cart fees starting this year. The monthly fee was brought down from about $9 to just over $2 per household.

“It’s a significant shift for producers to be responsible for collecting, recycling and managing these materials,” Langdon said.

“A big transition like this is never easy. We recognize the impact of change and thank all Albertans for their continued engagement and participation in recycling throughout this transition. Participation is vital to increasing recycling rates and advancing a more sustainable future.”

The expanded recycling program applies to both single-family households and multi-family properties. Multi-family property managers and condo boards can register with Circular Materials to access free recycling collection services and the expanded list of accepted materials.

There won’t be any changes to the current blue cart collection schedule or pick-up service.

Sharon Howland, the City of Calgary’s program management team lead for waste and recycling services, said GFL Environmental Inc.’s recyclables sorting facility, which processes blue cart contents from more than 350,000 homes, underwent technological upgrades to prepare for the expanded list of recyclable materials.

“There’s been a huge investment by the producers that make all of this packaging to allow it to be captured and recycled properly,” she told reporters. “GFL has been working through the construction upgrades, increasing the capacity of the facility to process more materials, because we do anticipate greater tonnage coming into that facility.”

There’s now 11 optical sorters at the 70,000-square-foot facility, which is located just east of city limits and also incorporates ballistic separators and robots to help sort recyclables properly.

The facility began operating in February 2024 and immediately began accepting 27 tonnes of recyclable material every hour.

Howland said an expanded blue cart program should have a positive impact on the city’s diversion rate — the percentage of waste kept out of the landfill.

A waste composition study in 2025 revealed that 15 per cent of material in Calgarians’ black carts were recyclable, according to Howland, who added the next waste composition study is slated to occur in 2028.

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