Blue cart recycling
Keep garden hoses, ropes, and other stringy items out of your blue cart.
If it dangles, it will cause a tangle!
When items like hoses, electrical cords and other string-like items end up in the recycling, it gets all wrapped up and tangled with the good recyclables creating a giant ‘hairball’ that shuts down the sorting lines (which means no recyclables are getting sorted!). These costly delays create unnecessary hazards for the workers – help us keep our fellow Calgarians safe by putting the right items into the recycling.
Remember:
- No garden hoses
- No electrical cords or Christmas lights
- No rope, string or dangly items of any kind
Remember to use our What Goes Where search tool to check where an item can be recycled, composted or disposed of by visiting calgary.ca/whatgoeswhere.
What can go in your Blue Cart
Find your pickup schedule
Print a calendar
- Type your address in the search box
- Select Get a calendar
- You can print a calendar; or
- Add an online calendar
Sign up for free reminders
- Type your address in search box
- Select Get a reminder
- Chose type of notice
- Add your contact details
Download the Calgary Garbage Day app
Never miss a collection day by downloading the Calgary Garbage Day app onto your mobile device.
Using your Blue Cart
Customer self-service
Request cart for a new home
Report a missing or damaged cart
For more details, see Replacing Your Cart.
About Blue Cart Program
Who receives a cart?
We provide blue carts to single family homes up to four units, as long as they are not part of an apartment or condominium.
| Monthly Rate | 2023 |
|---|---|
|
Blue Cart Fee ($ per 30 days) |
$8.98 |
|
|
|
Your monthly cart program fees are not a "per-collection" fee but cover all the components of the residential cart programs, including providing carts to Calgarians, pickup from your home, sorting and processing of material as well as education and program support.
To learn more, visit Residential Waste Rates.
How recycling works
Through our Blue Cart program and community recycling depots, we've recycled more than 700 million kilograms over the last 11 years.
When your items are picked up from your blue cart, they go to a recycling sorting facility. People and machines sort all the mixed recyclables into different types of materials, bale them and ship them to markets where they will be made into new products.
In 2017, some items were impacted by the changes in the Chinese recycling sector and put into storage. In 2018, new manufacturers were found in other markets to accept recyclables as well as to clear out the backlog of stored items from 2017.
