The impacts of the Extended Producer Responsibility in St. Albert will be felt largely on (recycled) paper.
The intent of the regulation is to shift the cost and physical burdern of recycling from local governments to the companies that make the waste.
St. Albert has decided to “opt in” and retain control of recycling after the new rules from the province begin to come into effect April 1, 2025, rather than handing the operation over to a third party, called a producer responsibility organization (PRO).
A PRO “is a business established to contract with producers to provide collection management and administrative services to help producers meet their regulatory obligations under the Regulation,” according to a report from Tim Saunders, the city’s director of public operations.
“Currently, the City of St. Albert has chosen to remain in control of recycling collection by opting-in and using existing contracts to collect curbside recycling,” Saunders wrote. “The PRO will compensate the City for the costs of providing this service at the negotiated rate and by using their compensation methodology in order to remain consistent with all partners, ensuring neither side is subjected to a financial burden.”
Louise Stewart, senior manager with public works, said St. Albert’s approach “keeps everything absolutely the same, status quo” for residents.
She said the decision was largely well-received during an open house for “all multi-family owners, boards, property managers etc.” in October. They appreciated that costs would transfer to the PRO, but were concerned about having to set aside more space for three-stream refuse sorting.
In terms of timelines, the city expects it will request councillors approve changes to the Solid Waste Bylaw in Q1 of 2025.
The first phase of EPR begins April 1 of next year; phase two begins Oct. 1, 2026.
Mayor Cathy Heron, who advocated for the changes brought by the EPR program at Alberta Municipalities, can’t wait.
“During the advocacy, there was hesitation from the province because this is going to cost businesses money,” she said. “And that the savings that we were going to get would be kept by municipalities and not passed on to the utility rate payers.”
The revenue collected by the city will be passed on to utility payers through reductions in the solid waste and recycling flat rates, according to Saunders.
Heron was eager to learn what sort of materials the city will be accepting starting April 1, since the province is mandating the collection of things St. Albert doesn’t accept now, such as soft plastics and plastic film.
“I’m just excited,” Heron said. “I think this is great for the city and great for the environment, but I’m concerned how it’s not the city’s job to educate, it’s the PRO’s, and St. Albert residents aren’t even aware that this good thing is going to happen to us.”
Saunders said the full picture of what will be collected/accepted hasn't fully developed yet, but everything should be sorted by April 1. He said there would be public education closer to the date, including information on the city’s website on what can be recycled.
“I hope so,” he said. “We will know in Q1” how these things are shaping up.
Coun. Shelley Biermanski asked whether the program will result in producers producing less.
Saunders said the city hasn’t been a part of that discussion with producers, but that the intent is entice companies to get more creative with their packaging as they’re presented with the impact of the direct cost of recycling on their balance sheets.
But “anecdotally, yes, I think that is the overall goal,” Saunders said.
“I think it’s great, I’m excited about it,” Biermanski said. “And with no inconvenience to the residents?
“What more could we ask for?”
