Starting Oct. 1, Whitecourt’s curbside recycling program will be taken over by Circular Materials (CM).
Under the new system, CM will manage the collection, transportation, sorting and processing of recyclable materials.
The program will be managed under a province-wide contract and funded by Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees that product manufacturers generally pay through direct costs embedded in the product or through eco fees charged when a sale is made. As the town explains, these fees are meant to ensure items being recycled are collected, processed and end up in a reusable market to reduce the materials ending up in landfills.
Under the town’s purview, residents could include plastic, paper, metal and cardboard products in their curbside recycling. When the new system goes into effect, residents can also include a wider range of plastics, including film plastics, as well as aerosol cans, glass containers and foam packaging.
The town says this should be a seamless transition, as the collection container — clear or blue bags — and Friday collection day will not be changing. Through the CM contract, Integrity Waste Solutions Inc. will collect the materials.
In the future, the town intends to expand the program to multi-family dwellings and apartments.
As the program is provincially funded, the town says it will review the fees for its existing curbside program, which should result in savings for residents who currently pay for curbside recycling on their monthly utility bill.
Whitecourt town council accepted the program changes as information during its regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 14.
