Shane Keating — Councillor Ward 12

Waste & Recycling Services has begun conducting a voluntary trial of larger blue carts (360L) amongst a small group of households that consistently have more recyclables than will fit in their standard blue cart. The larger carts – which have 50 per cent more capacity – provide another option, in addition to community recycling depots, for blue cart customers to do the right thing and recycle more.

The trial will measure customer experience and compatibility with our existing fleet equipment.

Background

The Blue Cart program provides residences with a 240L cart to collect recyclables for weekly collection. Based on field audits and customer feedback, this cart size meets the needs of the average household, but can be limiting for households that consistently have more recyclables.

There has been limited but continued interest by some residents in Calgary to have more convenient options for the collection of their extra material.

Current options for extra recyclables
If a resident’s blue cart is full, they have two options available:

1. Store the recyclables for next week’s collection.
2. Bring their excess recyclables to a community recycling depot near them.

These options best meet the needs for residents who occasionally have excess recyclables.

Other options considered to accommodate extra recyclables materials included: providing residents with another cart and collection of bagged recyclables. These options are less favourable because of on street space restrictions and the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) is not designed to handle bagged recyclables.

Benefits of larger carts

• Improved convenience and ease for residents who regularly take their extra recyclables to a community recycling depot.
• No additional cost to the resident to participate in the trial.
• Maintains collection efficiency.
• Purchase of larger carts by The City can be completed under existing contract and costs are minimal when compared to providing a second cart.
• Existing 240L carts can be reused at a different address.
• If expanded city-wide, larger carts may lead to increased recycling and waste diversion from landfills.
• The trial will include up to 200 households across the city to ensure ongoing monitoring and measurement throughout the trial is achievable.
• We already have a list or participants, as these individuals had contacted The City previously to request additional or larger carts. There is room for more participants; residents may contact 311 if they wish to trial a larger cart.

Selecting trial participants

• The trial will include up to 200 households across the city to ensure ongoing monitoring and measurement throughout the trial is achievable.
• We already have a list or participants, as these individuals had contacted The City previously to request additional or larger carts. There is room for more participants; residents may contact 311 if they wish to trial a larger cart.