Red Deer residents will soon pay less for their recycling collection services.
Residents with individual carts will see a monthly decrease of $5.20 and those with multi-family recycling collection will see a monthly decrease of $5.15 per dwelling unit.
The change comes with the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) on April 1, 2025. EPR is an environmental and economic policy that shifts the physical and financial burden of collecting, sorting, processing and recycling certain wastes to the producers (manufacturers) and away from local governments and ratepayers. EPR covers packaging and paper products, the things residents already put in their Blue Carts, multi-family recycling bins and take to the Recycling Drop-off Depots.
”EPR systems hold producers responsible for the end-of-life management of the products and packaging they put in the marketplace,” said Janet Whitesell, Waste Management Superintendent for the City of Red Deer. “This policy is intended to reduce waste by encouraging producers to create less packaging waste and to design packaging and paper products that are more easily recycled.”
Red Deerians will see no changes to their recycling services on April 1. Cart collection schedules will remain the same and there will be no changes to what is collected in Blue, Black or Green Carts. The City’s collection contractor will also remain in place.
“With producers paying the cost of recycling, the only change Red Deer residents will notice in April is the lower amount they pay on their utility bills,” said Whitesell. “This is an exciting improvement for the future of recycling in Red Deer and the province in general.”
More information on EPR can be found at https://www.alberta.ca/regulated-extended-producer-responsibility-programs.
FAQ - External - EPR Changes (pdf)
For more information, contact:
Community & Public Relations
The City of Red Deer