Calgary Recycles

Our long-term goal is to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills to just 20%, and recycling or recovering 80% of waste materials by the year 2020.

• The City's role
• Your role

The City's role

We offer numerous recycling and organics management programs:

• Blue Cart Recycling is a weekly residential recycling pick-up service for single family households up to and including fourplexes. 
• Community Recycling Depots Calgary's residential recycling program works through a system of neighbourhood recycling depots. You can drop off plastics #1-7 (excluding polystyrene), mixed paper, cardboard, newspapers, magazines, clear or coloured glass food and beverage containers, metal food cans and lids, milk jugs and cartons, and plastic bags beverage containers for recycling. Items can be deposited any time, at no extra charge.
• Appliances. Take your appliances to Landfill Throw n' Go areas to recycle your large appliances (charges apply).
• Electronics Recycling We have several permanent recycling depots for old and unusable electronic items like televisions and computer monitors. Items can be dropped off at no extra charge, seven days a week.
• Organics recycling
  • The Christmas Tree Mulching Program The City collects trees after the holidays and chips them into mulch for use in parks and green spaces. The service is provided at no extra charge.
  • The Leaf & Pumpkin Composting Program Each fall we provide temporary drop-off sites citywide for pumpkins and leaves collected from your yard. The service is provided to residents at no extra charge.
  • Composters The City sells subsidized backyard composters to help residents recycle organics.
  • Grasscycling Recycle your lawn clippings - leave them where they lay after you mow.  They'll keep your lawn healthy by acting as a fertilizer and preventing moisture loss.
• Paint and motor oil recycling Take your paints and motor oils and other household chemicals today, or tomorrow, or any day to any of The City's landfills or designated Fire department stations with special storage depots. The service is provided to residents at no extra charge.
• Tire Recycling Dispose of four or fewer  tires free at the Throw 'n' Go areas at any City landfill. More than four tires must be taken to the Shepard Landfill where a minimum $5 fee is charged.

Your role

The Recycling Cycle

A successful recycling program requires three components:

1. Collection
2. Processing
3. Markets for recyclable materials

A successful recycling program is a team effort. Everyone's involved and everyone's connected, from governments to processors to manufacturers and especially, to you and your family. We all depend on each other to keep the cycle going: if any one of the team members drops out, the recycling process stops.

It's all a part of the recycling cycle.

It starts with you: Make a decision to reduce, reuse and recycle before putting your waste into your garbage.

We'll take it from there: The City will collect your recyclables and deliver them to a processor who can turn them into a high quality raw material.

A new product is made: A manufacturer buys the processed raw material and produces a new product.

It can end with you, too: Make a decision to buy recycled products. If enough people make that decision it will be worthwhile for manufacturers to buy more recycled raw materials, from which to make more recycled products, continuing the cycle of reusing materials.

Visit our 3Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or Waste reduction tips area for more information.