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Thank you for your continued participation in the Edmonton Cart Rollout demonstration phase, which will continue until the citywide rollout begins. You are helping lead the way for the future of waste in Edmonton.
Your feedback has helped us shape the citywide program, and you will notice some changes during the transition to cart-based collection for all of Edmonton. Changes include:
In addition, the City will stop collecting excess garbage or food scraps bags that are not placed inside the appropriate cart once citywide cart-based collection starts, as defined by the Waste Services Bylaw on the following effective dates.
Effective Date |
Location |
|---|---|
| April 13, 2021 | Baturyn Brintnell/Cy Becker Chambery Ellerslie Kiniski Gardens Miller Satoo Tamarack |
| May 11, 2021 | Kensington |
| June 1, 2021 | Beacon Heights Delwood Forest Heights |
You will receive a letter from the City before changes start in your area.
On collection day, be sure to place your cart at least 1 metre away from other carts, cars or other objects. Please place your cart on level ground, with the back wheels facing towards the house or driveway. Make sure the lid is fully closed.
If there is not enough space to properly set out your carts, please place your carts at the end of your driveway. This is also a convenient spot during the winter time as no additional snow removal is required.
Please refer to the set-out diagram printed on the outside of your cart and watch our cart set-out tips video at edmonton.ca/waste. The video will be available in early March.
We’re interested in hearing about your experience in the Cart Rollout demonstration phase so that we can share your stories with the rest of the Edmonton community joining next year’s rollout. Your experience with carts is very valuable and will help other residents to transition to the new program.
As someone who already has experience with the new carts, what would you like to tell your fellow Edmontonians? Tell us what you loved and what difficulties you experienced. Share your interesting stories with us. We’d like to hear from you!
Waste Services will create videos based on your feedback and share them through our various channels. If you are interested in being featured in videos and photos and would like to tell others about your experiences with the carts, then please fill out this form and a City employee will contact you with next steps.
We’re looking for your feedback!
Under the new cart-based system, each of the participating neighbourhoods will have a new collection schedule.
Your green cart will be picked up every week, switching to every 2 weeks during winter
Your blue bags will be picked up every week
Your black cart will be picked up every 2 weeks as most of your waste will now go into your green cart or blue bags
Additional yard waste will be picked up on special, seasonal collection days, twice in the spring and twice in the fall
This new system encourages sorting of household waste and supports overall waste reduction. This will help minimize the amount of garbage sent to landfill and build a more sustainable future for Edmonton. The Edmonton Cart Rollout will help inform the 25-year waste strategy for Edmonton. This strategy was approved by City Council in September 2019.
Participants, subscribe to receive the latest info and updates
Subscribe to the e-newsletter to get the latest information on the Edmonton Cart Rollout, and for tips to help you use the new waste system effectively.
November 13, 2020
October 30, 2020
September 23, 2020
September 4, 2020 *Correction Notice*
September 3, 2020
July 16, 2020
May 13, 2020
February 12, 2020
January 10, 2020
November 15, 2019
September 12, 2019
September 5, 2019
August 22, 2019
July 18, 2019
May 23, 2019
April 25, 2019
April 11, 2019
March 28, 2019
Residents were permitted to opt out of cart-based collection during the first few months of the demonstration phase only. Now that we are introducing the Edmonton Cart Rollout citywide, cart-based collection will become mandatory for all single-unit and some multi-unit residences.
Demonstration area residents were invited to choose their garbage cart from the two available sizes between September and November 2020.
If you missed that opportunity and need to exchange your garbage cart for a new size, you can submit a request at edmonton.ca/waste beginning April 6. The two available sizes for the garbage carts are small (120L or the same as the size of your green cart) and large (240L or double the size of your green cart). Your first cart size exchange request submitted beginning April 6 is free of charge. Any additional future cart size exchange requests will come with a one-time administration fee of $18.50.
There is no rate increase resulting from the implementation of cart service in 2021. However, individual customer monthly rates will vary. Your monthly waste service fee in January - September 2021 will be the same as your 2020 rate ($47.22/month) for curbside collection customers.
Those customers who choose the 240L garbage cart will see their monthly rate increase by $1.10 to $48.32 in October 2021, while those who select the 120L garbage cart will see their rate decrease by $3.90/month to $43.32/month in October 2021.
A liner is not required but paper may be used to line the food scraps cart or food scraps pail. Use a newspaper liner or paper bags inside your food scraps pail and crumbled newspaper at the bottom of your food scraps cart.
Grocery bags or other plastic bags are not accepted in the food scraps pail or cart.
Beginning April 13, 2021, BPI and BNQ compostable bags can be used in the food scraps cart. Please do not use such bags until April 13 which is when the processing equipment to manage them will be in use.
During the demonstration phase, excess waste bags were collected to ensure equal levels of service between the demonstration area and the rest of the City. As the whole city moves to cart collection, no excess waste bags will be collected.
The collection of excess waste bags compromises the safety, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the new automated collection system. Adhering to the volume limits imposed by carts also encourages residents to sort waste according to the citywide sorting rules.
During the demonstration phase, the City conducted three studies in summer 2019, fall 2019 and winter 2020 on the composition of waste set out for collection. We found that there is still room to improve waste sorting at home. More than 30% of the materials collected in garbage carts from the demonstration area were compostable organics and more than 20% were recyclables.
The City will be offering more opportunities for public education beginning this spring to help residents become accustomed to sorting materials, and we encourage any demonstration area residents to sign up. Once you become accustomed to sorting your recyclables, food scraps and yard waste, you should find you have much less leftover garbage.
Residents will also be able to drop off up to two bags of excess garbage (in clear bags only without food scraps, yard waste or recycling) at Eco Stations for free.
Demonstration phase residents with 7 or more people in the same household, and residents generating non-hazardous home healthcare waste can apply for upgrading your garbage cart into an excess (360L) garbage cart from April 6, 2021. As of October 2021, the monthly rate for the excess garbage cart will be $58.32, which is $10 more per month than the large (240L) garbage cart.
If your garbage cart is the same size as your food scraps cart, it’s the small size. If your garbage cart is larger than the food scraps cart, it’s the large size.
Another way to confirm the size of your cart is to use the serial number on the front of your cart. If the serial number starts with the number “1”, it is a small sized cart. If it starts with the number “2”, it is a large sized cart.
The City has learned a lot from the participants, including how to increase the clarity of the communication materials, the major challenges for residents and for collectors, length of the learning curve, program designs, and more.
Based on the feedback received, adjustments have been made for the full implementation. The two major changes of the program design are the acceptance of the BPI and BNQ certified compostable bags in green carts, and the acceptance of clear plastic bags for the yard waste collection. Thank you for helping the City to shape this major transition.
Continue to place your garbage in your garbage (black) cart as usual. Waste Services will transfer any garbage from your existing cart into your new cart if needed. For updates and notifications on exact dates on when to expect your new cart, download our free WasteWise app from iTunes or Google Play.
Carts will be delivered and collected in phases, beginning in spring 2021. Residents will receive more information as the rollout draws nearer.
We continue to be thankful to Edmonton Cart Rollout participants for the important role you continue to play. You are helping us hone our tools and processes to ensure the citywide rollout is successful. Currently, there are no plans to fine participants for incorrect use of carts. However, to ensure safe work practices for collectors and help participants learn the appropriate way to set out their waste for efficient collection, collectors are not collecting carts that are not set out correctly.
The Edmonton Cart Rollout includes the following 13 neighbourhoods: Baturyn, Beacon Heights, Brintnell, Cy Becker, Chambery, Delwood, Ellerslie, Forest Heights, Kensington, Kiniski Gardens, Miller, Satoo and Tamarack.
Please note: There is a chance that even if you live in one of these neighbourhoods, your home may not have been selected for the rollout at this time. Homes were selected based on routes within the mentioned neighbourhoods that could be serviced with specific automated collection vehicles.
Neighbourhood selection was based on a variety of factors to ensure a representative sample of Edmontonians. The routes selected were based on a number of factors such as neighbourhood design, mix of front and back alley collection routes, and collection dates. The selected neighbourhoods provide a reflection of the city as a whole.
Selecting all houses in a single consecutive area would not have provided the diversity of the selected group in terms of: neighbourhood design, mix of front and back alley collection routes, and collection dates.
No, not at this time. However, improper set out means that the automated collection vehicle will not be able to pick up the cart. If you are having difficulty getting your waste to the curb or lane or if your waste was not picked up, please call 780-496-5678 (Waste Hotline) to get help with proper set out instructions and pick up.
Diverting source-separated organics from landfill is a top priority for Waste Services. Organics collected as part of the Edmonton Cart Rollout are currently being processed at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre’s outdoor compost cure site. Waste Services has a business continuity plan in place to ensure all residents continue to receive a basic level of service. If it becomes necessary to implement the most extreme business continuity measures, it’s possible that organics from the Edmonton Cart Rollout will go to landfill.
Currently, there are no significant changes to how waste is being collected or processed, and organics from the Edmonton Cart Rollout are being diverted from landfill.
Currently, there are no expected impacts to residents participating in the cart rollout pilot. As originally planned, the demonstration will continue until the implementation of the Edmonton cart rollout.
In 2019, about 1,550 tonnes of organics were collected over almost 8 months. These organics were processed at the cure site and in the Anaerobic Digestion Facility (ADF). We expect to continue diverting these organics from the landfill.
The purpose of the demonstration phase is not to increase diversion. The purpose is to learn more about factors that could affect the success of the citywide rollout, such as contamination rates in different waste streams, appropriate methods of communication and education and processing requirements for organic waste.
If your cart is damaged or missing, please contact 311.
Your cart may need to be repaired or replaced if:
Each cart is equipped with a unique barcode associated with the address it was delivered to. Please report lost or found carts to 311. The situation will be investigated and carts replaced as needed.
Cart cleanliness is the responsibility of the resident. If your carts need cleaning, rinse your cart with a hose and pour the water on the grass or gravel, being careful that the dirty water does not enter the storm drain. In winter, try mixing 1 part vinegar and 3 parts hot water to help clean the surface and remove odours. Be careful not to empty water onto driveways, sidewalks or walkways, where it could freeze and create hazardous conditions.
If material gets stuck inside the cart, use a broom or shovel handle to loosen it. To ensure food waste does not become lodged or frozen to the base of the cart, you can place crumpled up newspaper at the base of your green cart.
To clean your kitchen pail, rinse it with hot water or place it inside your dishwasher.
You can mix one-part vinegar and three-parts boiling water as this helps clean the surface and removes the fly-attracting odours. In addition, you should ensure that your green cart remains fully closed at all times.
To reduce odours, we recommend you store your cart in a shady spot, out of direct sunlight.
To ensure food waste does not become lodged or frozen to the base of the cart, you can place crumpled up newspaper at the base of your green cart.
If your carts need cleaning you may rinse your cart with a hose and pour the water on the grass or gravel, being careful that the dirty water does not enter the storm drain. If material gets stuck inside the cart, you may use a broom or shovel handle to loosen it. To clean your kitchen pail, rinse it with hot water or place it inside your dishwasher.
We encourage residents to not use a liner in their green cart or kitchen pail. If a liner is desired, the liner should be paper (preferably newspaper, paper towel, a paper bag or shredded paper). No plastic of any kind including plastic bags or compostable bags are allowed in the green cart.
Effective April 13, 2021, you could use BPI/BNQ certified compostable bags to line your green cart or kitchen pail. Please do not use these bags before April 13, which is when the processing equipment to manage them will be in use.
Compostable or biodegradable bags are not accepted in the green cart as the requirements for breaking down these products which are marketed as "certified compostable products" are very specific and require exposure to extreme temperatures for an extended period of time. Since these requirements are difficult to meet, the remains of these bags would compromise the quality of the final compost product and therefore cannot be accepted.
Effective April 13, 2021, you could use BPI/BNQ certified compostable bags to line your green cart or kitchen pail. Please do not use these bags before April 13, which is when the processing equipment to manage them will be in use.
It is recommended to put shredded paper, tissues, paper towels and wood waste, such as popsicle sticks, in your black cart. Newspaper and paper inserts can go in the blue bags recycling.
Small amounts of newspaper or shredded paper can be used in the green cart as a liner.
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