"While some of the newly accepted materials were already recycled in Airdrie, others were wish-cycled," Holly Basiuk, the City's Waste and Recycling Education Advisor, said in the City of Airdrie's Sept. 3, 2026 announcement. The City defines wish-cycling as putting things in the recycling cart even though they aren't accepted.
As of Oct. 1, a lot of what Airdrie households used to wish-cycle is now accepted. You can put clean foam meat trays, chip cans, cereal-liner bags and coffee-cup lids in the blue cart.
Three weeks after the switch, the City's website still shows the new rules and some older ones side by side, and in a few places they disagree.
The rules moved out of City Hall
Alberta's Extended Producer Responsibility system, or EPR, launched April 1, 2025. More communities joined on July 1, 2025, and the final phase began on October 1, 2026. The province says that final phase brings access to about 97% of Albertans.
Under EPR, the cost of recycling packaging and paper moves off municipalities and the people who pay utility bills. The companies that make the packaging pay instead. The City's EPR page puts it plainly: the shift is "from the utility payer (you) to the producer (manufacturer)."
In Airdrie, the change happened in three steps:
- April 1, 2026: Circular Materials took over Airdrie's blue cart program. GFL Environmental does the collection under contract.
- April 6, 2026: The City switched garbage pickup from loose bags to automated black carts. Bags still go inside the cart, and the lid has to close.
- October 1, 2026: Circular Materials took over the paper, plastic and packaging streams at the Recycle Depot, and the list of accepted materials grew.
Mayor Spearman described the goal as "a more consistent recycling system across Alberta." The City's EPR page lists "standardized accepted materials and recycling guidelines across Alberta municipalities participating in the EPR system" as one of the changes residents can expect.
So the list for your blue cart is now set by a province-wide program, not by a sorting chart written for Airdrie alone. That's why the older chart now disagrees with it in places.
What went into the cart on Oct. 1
The City's EPR page lists five new categories for the blue cart and the Recycle Depot:
- Mixed paper packaging, such as pet food bags and spiral cans
- Empty food and body aerosols, such as shave cream, whipped cream and sunscreen
- Flexible bags and wrappers, such as cereal bag liners, snack bags and coffee bags
- Tubes, such as toothpaste, deodorant and lotion
- Foam packaging, such as clean meat trays, foam cups and egg cartons
The City's release adds chip cans and coffee-cup lids as examples. It also says takeout coffee cups can still go in the cart, which Basiuk called "a source of confusion" for a long time.
DiscoverAirdrie reported on Oct. 2 that collection schedules and service levels didn't change. Blue carts are still picked up every week. Your pickup day stays the same, but more of what you throw out now goes in the blue cart.
Where the old chart still says something else
The City's "Recyclable materials and how to sort" page still has its detailed material-by-material tables. Some of those rows were written before the expansion. Here is how a few common items compare with the new rules:
| Item | Older City sorting table says | Rules since Oct. 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Foam meat trays and takeout foam | Foam goes to the Recycle Depot, "no food Styrofoam™" | Clean foam meat trays, cups and egg cartons go in the blue cart |
| Items made of materials that can't be separated | Garbage, with "coffee cans" given as an example | Mixed paper packaging such as spiral cans and pet food bags is accepted |
| Soft-cover books and notebooks | Blue cart | Circular Materials lists books as not accepted in the blue cart |
Producers now fund the program, and Circular Materials manages it in Airdrie, so its list is the one that counts. When the two disagree, go by the Oct. 1 section of the City's EPR page and Circular Materials' Airdrie page. The City links to both and also points residents to the Circular Materials app.
For books in good condition, there's a better option than either cart. The Book Barn at the Recycle Depot works on a take-a-book, leave-a-book basis.
The habits that didn't change
These preparation rules from the City still apply to everything in the cart, new items included:
- Items go in empty, clean, dry and loose.
- Only two things go in bags: shredded paper and stretchy plastics, such as grocery bags and overwrap. Put them in a securely tied clear bag. Circular Materials gives the same instruction for stretchy bags.
- Plastics need to be larger than the palm of your hand.
- Empty glass containers and take the lids off.
- Flatten cardboard boxes. The cart lid has to close for pickup, and anything left beside the cart stays there.
The "clean" rule matters most for the new foam items. Both the City and Basiuk specify clean meat trays. A tray with residue is still a problem in the cart, even though the material itself is now accepted.
What the Depot is still for
The Airdrie Recycle Depot is at 21 East Lake Hill NE. According to Circular Materials' Airdrie page, it's open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Since Oct. 1, the Depot has two operators. Circular Materials handles paper, plastic and packaging. City staff still handle household hazardous waste, beverage containers, batteries, electronics, used oil and oil containers, textiles and books. The City has also said residents should expect some bin locations and accepted materials at the Depot to change, and less separate sorting overall.
The Depot is still the place for:
- White protective packing foam, such as the blocks around electronics. The City's sorting page sends clean, tape-free block foam to the Depot.
- Electronics, lightbulbs, batteries, household chemicals, and used oil and filters
- Extra paper, cardboard and plastics that won't fit in a cart with the lid closed
- Textiles and books, which go to reuse and redistribution
The new foam rules cover food packaging such as trays, cups and egg cartons. Block foam from a TV box is a different item. Until the City's pages say otherwise, it goes to the Depot.
The change on your utility bill
The shift to producers also shows up on your utility bill. The City bills every 28 days, so most households get 13 bills a year. Its published rate table breaks the waste charges into separate lines:
| Rate line | 2024 | 2025 (Jan–June) | 2025 (June–Dec) | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garbage Collection | $0.28 | $0.30 | $0.30 | $0.32 |
| Recycling Collection | $0.27 | $0.21 | $0.14 | $0.03 |
| Organics Collection | $0.27 | $0.29 | $0.29 | $0.33 |
| GAR Fee Total | $0.87 | $0.85 | $0.78 | $0.73 |
From 2024 to 2026, the garbage and organics lines went up. The recycling line dropped from $0.27 to $0.03. Because of that drop, the combined GAR fee in 2026 is lower than in 2024, even though the other two lines rose. Council voted on May 6, 2025 to cut utility rates so that part of the EPR savings goes back to residents.
What's left of the recycling line is only a few cents. The rest of the cost is now covered by the companies whose packaging ends up in your cart. That's also why their accepted-materials list now decides what goes in it.
If you live in a condo or apartment
Multi-family buildings work differently. The City says Alberta's EPR program for multi-family buildings is rolling out in stages through 2026. Property managers or owners register their building directly with Circular Materials. If your building's recycling room still has old signs posted, your property manager can tell you whether the building has registered.
Who to call
- Missed blue cart pickup: GFL Environmental
- Questions about what's accepted in recycling: Circular Materials, 1.877.667.2626 or [email protected]
- Garbage and organics: 311
If a move is coming up for you, the clear-out before listing is where this changes the most. Household chemicals and old electronics go to the Depot. Boxes of soft-cover books go to the Book Barn. A lot of the packaging that used to fill extra garbage bags can now go in the blue cart. I'm happy to help you plan a pre-listing clear-out around pickup days and Depot hours so it fits your timeline. Let's Connect with Trenton Pittner- 1670274 Alberta LTD.
