Southwest goes blue as recycling pickups begin

Calgary's much-anticipated blue cart recycling program officially kicked off Tuesday with residential pickups in the city's southwest.

The quadrant is the first to get the service, followed by the southeast in May, and the north in June. Crews will be picking up recycling from more than 300,000 homes once the program is in full swing.

So far, the city has delivered more than 100,000 blue plastic wheeled bins to Calgary homes and complexes with a maximum of four units.

Judy Atkinson, who lives in Meadowlark Park, is delighted with the recycling pickup because it means she no longer has to bring materials to community depots.

"A lot of people can't get there, or they don't have the vehicle, or just because of the inconvenience they don't do it. So I think this is going to make more people recycle a lot more goods and it's going to really help," she said on Tuesday.

She said she's already noticed she puts out less garbage because more material is being diverted to the blue bin.

"I just love it when I look down the back alley and I see all these blue boxes lined up and it makes me know that we're on the right track."

The city has expanded its recycling program to include plastics (labelled 1-7), along with milk cartons, paper, cardboard, glass and cans, in its pickup service. People who live in large condo or apartment buildings will have to continue to use the community recycling depots, which the city says will be converted to accept plastics and not require sorting.

"I think it's about time. Calgary is a bit behind the times compared to most cities in Canada, so we're there now and I'm really glad," said Atkinson.

The City of Calgary, one of the last major municipalities in Canada to offer a recycling pickup service, expects to double the amount of materials it currently recycles. An extra $8 for the service is being added to every household's Enmax utility bill.

All recyclables go into the blue cart with no sorting required, and it is left out on the same day and location as garbage collection.

"So for most Calgarians it's pretty straightforward and it's quite easy to find a place to put your cart," said Paula Magdich, the blue cart recycling program leader.

"There are few tricky spots in the city, however, and so we encourage folks to read the information that comes with their package to help them figure out cart placement, go to our website … or if they're really having a tough time figuring out what to do with their cart, they can call 311, we can have a foreman come out and talk to them and work out a solution."

The city asked residents to leave adequate space around the carts on collection day because they're picked up by an automated mechanical arm controlled by a worker. The process has also made it safer for staff.

"It's all with the joystick and automation and we're really not lifting anything anymore, so that's good," said Bryce Hill who's been a collection truck operator for 21 years.

All recyclables are taken to a material recovery facility owned by Metro Waste Paper Recovery Inc. in southeast Calgary for sorting. The company ships materials to companies that turns them into new products.