Another Canadian province is rolling out its extended producer responsibility program for packaging and paper products.
Producer responsibility organization Circular Materials has launched the first phase of EPR in Alberta as of today. Canada has 10 provinces and three territories, and eight provinces and one territory have passed EPR for packaging in some form. Quebec’s program, which is run by PRO Éco Entreprises Québec, started Jan. 1.
Alberta’s EPR regulation was approved in October 2022, and Circular Materials has been working on implementation with producers, regional government, municipalities and the Alberta Recycling Management Authority, a non-profit with government-delegated authority to oversee the multiple recycling stewardship programs in the province.
The EPR launch will move financial responsibility for managing curbside recycling collection away from municipalities and onto producers, although the day-to-day operations of many curbside recycling programs will not change.
Allen Langdon, CEO of Circular Materials, said in a press release that “significant efforts have brought us to this point, and we will continue this momentum to enhance recycling systems across the province.”
Rebecca Schulz, Alberta’s Minister of Environment and Protected Areas, added that the “new system will keep more waste out of landfills while saving communities and taxpayers money.”
“We’re doing it without creating more work or costs for Albertans or making them change their recycling habits,” she said, because many of the existing systems will remain but will be funded by producers instead.
The program covers paper products such as newspapers, packaging, cardboard, printed paper, and magazines, rigid and flexible plastics, metal and glass. The first phase includes about 200 communities, most of which will continue to act as service providers to Circular Materials by continuing to manage their own collection.
Another 45 communities have chosen to have Circular Materials immediately begin direct management of recycling services. Phase 1 covers about 90% of Albertans.
“The shift of curbside recycling services will be seamless and residents should not expect major changes,” the company said in its press release. “Circular Materials is committed to maintaining and enhancing the recycling services available to Albertans for packaging and paper products, with the goal of improving recycling rates and advancing the circular economy.”
There will be a “Phase 1.5” in July, to bring communities online who were not ready to go live in the spring, and then the second and final phases will launch in October 2026. Phase 2 will cover communities that didn’t have existing recycling services as of Nov. 30, 2022.
Ed Gugenheimer, CEO of the Alberta Recycling Management Authority, added in a separate press release that EPR “is a turning point.”
“We’ve delivered a program that meets the unique needs of Alberta’s marketplace that will fuel our circular economy,” Gugenheimer said. “Recycling has always been part of Alberta’s character; EPR is simply the next step forward.”
