A Moment with the Mayor: Recycling Just Got Easier

As of October 1, residential recycling in Lloydminster is managed by Circular Materials through Alberta’s Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, system.

EPR shifts the cost and responsibility for managing recyclable packaging and paper products from municipalities to the producers that supply those materials. Under the new system, producers are responsible for funding and ensuring these materials are collected and recycled.

Circular Materials, a non-profit organization, administers residential recycling under Alberta’s EPR system, with Integrity Waste Solutions providing collection services in Lloydminster on its behalf.

We look forward to the opportunities this new program brings to enhance recycling in our community. Expanding what residents can recycle is something many have asked about over the years, and the new program allows residents to recycle more materials than under the previous system.

The good news is that your collection schedule remains the same, while the list of materials you can recycle has grown. Residents will also receive a temporary rebate of $3.82 per month on their utility bills from October through December 2026.

Garbage and organics collection remain the responsibility of the City of Lloydminster and will continue as usual.

Under the new recycling program, residents can recycle a wider variety of materials, including cardboard and boxboard, paper, paper and plastic laminate packaging, cartons, plastic containers and food trays, toothpaste tubes and other small-item packaging, flexible plastic packaging, foam packaging, metal and aluminum containers, aerosol containers, and glass bottles and containers.

While more materials are now accepted, how you set out your recycling remains the same. Continue using blue or clear bags for your recycling, and please ensure cardboard is flattened and broken down so it can be easily collected. Recycling should be placed at the curb by 7 a.m. on your collection day and kept at least one metre away from your carts.

Increasing the amount of material we recycle also helps reduce what ends up in our landfill. Over the long term, diverting more material from the landfill can help extend its lifespan and reduce some of the operating and construction pressures associated with developing new landfill cells.

Visit CircularMaterials.ca/Lloydminster for the complete list of accepted materials and more information about residential recycling.

As we head further into fall, I also want to remind residents that our organics collection schedule will soon change. Weekly organics collection will move to a biweekly schedule beginning November 9.

Taking a few extra moments to properly sort your materials can make a meaningful difference in reducing waste and keeping recyclable materials out of our landfill.

Mayor Gerald S. Aalbers
City of Lloydminster