A bylaw amendment is now in effect requiring Calgary-based facilities to separate yard and food waste from the garbage.

Diversion can include a variety of different measures such as composting, supply management, donation opportunities or anaerobic digestion.

The city will provide education and resources to help businesses get started. Businesses can choose the food and yard waste collection company that best suits their needs and decide how to manage the service. For the full details on this change, see the food and yard waste bylaw requirements page.

Calgary businesses and organizations currently produce one third of all the waste going to city landfills. Of this, 88 per cent isn’t garbage. It includes paper, cardboard, food and other easily divertible materials.

Upcoming changes effective October 2018

Paper and cardboard materials will be banned from City of Calgary landfills as of October1, 2018. The ban applies to all commercial vehicle loads.
If banned material is discovered when the load is being dumped at the face of the landfill, the hauler will pay a higher charge for the entire load. The charge will be significantly more than the designated material rate that is already in place.

Plans also call for increasing landfill fees for food and yard waste. Commercial vehicle loads containing any food and yard waste will be subject to a higher designated materials rate at Calgary landfills to encourage food and yard waste diversion.