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Some common disposable items will soon be recyclable in Edmonton.
Starting Oct. 1, the City of Edmonton says residents will be able to recycle a variety of additional materials through residential blue bag and bin collection, as well as at recycling depots.
All plastic packaging, such as coffee bags, chip bags, bubble wrap, snack wrappers, cereal liner bags and plastic gift bags, will be accepted, according to a news release from the city Monday.
Shawn Gray, a waste outreach co-ordinator for the City of Edmonton, said one of the changes under the new recycling rules means “essentially all packaging, regardless of material” will be accepted.
“That’s a good rule of thumb: If it’s packaging, it can go into the recycling,” Gray told CBC’s Edmonton AM Thursday morning.
“[The change] makes it less complex for residents. So it makes recycling more accessible. More stuff is going into your blue bag.”
LISTEN | City of Edmonton says its recycling program will accept more items starting in October:
Edmonton AM9:53Edmonton making recycling more accessible to residents
Take-out containers, to-go coffee cups, plastic packaging. Starting Oct. 1, Edmontonians can toss those items in the recycling bin. Shawn Gray is a waste outreach co-ordinator for the City of Edmonton.
Previously, Gray said the city previously advised residents to do “the stretch test” to see if plastic packaging could actually be recycled.
“If [the bag] had a little bit of give, it could go into the recycling. If it didn’t, it couldn’t,” he said. “Now, all of the plastic bags can go into the recycling.”
Gray said another major change is that coffee cups and similar to-go cups will now be accepted.
“Those [cups] previously weren’t accepted into recycling and now they are. So that’s a … change that will probably impact most people.”
The city said that other items accepted beginning in October include all kinds of takeout containers, as well as foam packaging, such as meat trays and Styrofoam.
Shawn Gray, a waste outreach co-ordinator for the City of Edmonton, discussed changes to Edmonton’s recycling program on CBC’s Edmonton AM on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (CBC)
Gray said “part of [these] changes” are not from the city, but actually come from provincial legislation called the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
According to the City of Edmonton website, the province passed an EPR regulation in 2022, which is meant to shift the costs of managing recyclable materials and household hazardous waste from municipalities to producers.
Gray said part of this change is that an organization called Circular Materials — a national non-profit that helps producers meet their obligations under EPR regulations — will be responsible for all recycling in the province.
According to Circular Materials’s official website, it will be responsible for Alberta’s recycling programs, “either by working with the community or with a service provider to run curbside and depot services.”
“This [program] means municipalities and taxpayers no longer pay for recycling services as this cost is now paid by producers,” Circular Materials’s website said.
Gray said as these recycling changes are implemented, Edmonton residents can still check the city’s waste management app, WasteWise, to assess what items will be accepted.
“If you’re ever unsure of where something goes, you can search it up in WasteWise, and it will tell you if it’s recycling, if it’s food scraps [or] if it’s garbage,” Gray said.
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