From The City of Red Deer

Blue and Black Cart collection kicks off week of May 6

The carts have all been rolled out, residents had some time to get acquainted and now Blue and Black Cart collection is set to start next week.  Together, with the Green Cart, it completes Red Deer’s cart program implementation.

Throughout the months of March and April, Blue and Black Carts were rolled out to homes who currently receive individual garbage, recycling and Green Cart collection. The Blue Cart replaces the blue box, and
the Black Cart is for all other household garbage.

“We are excited to see Blue and Black cart collection start next week,” said Janet Whitesell, Waste Management Superintendent. “We have worked hard to create a program that has been tested, tweaked
and modified to ensure we are launching a program that will work for the residents of Red Deer.”  Collection for the Blue and Black Cart will take place every other week, on alternating weeks. That means
garbage will be collected one week and recycling collected the next week. Green Cart collection remains weekly. Residents received a colour coded calendar to make keeping track easy, and they can sign up for
weekly notifications through Notify Red Deer (reddeer.ca/notifyreddeer).

The Blue Cart replaces blue boxes, and in general, everything that used to go in the blue box can go in the Blue Cart, with the exception of glass. Place paper, cardboard, metal cans and plastics numbered one
through seven in the Blue Cart. The Black Cart is for remaining garbage that can’t go in the Blue or Green Cart, which in general is things like Styrofoam, disposable diapers, and unnumbered plastics. Detailed
information was attached to the Black Cart delivered to each home, and more information is always available at reddeer.ca/carts.

“Since April of 2018 when the Green Cart program launched, we have reduced the amount of garbage sent to landfill from households by 27 per cent,” said Whitesell. “For three months last year, we collected more in the Green Cart than we collected garbage at the curb which means a significant amount of material was composted and those nutrients returned to agricultural soils, instead of being landfilled.”

“The three cart system streamlines collection, and the way households bring their waste out to the curb or the alley,” Whitesell continued. “We are confident that we have a program that will not only reduce the
amount of waste going to our landfill, but engage and inspire residents to take steps to reduce their household waste, and our overall greenhouse gas emissions.”

Residents can learn more about the new cart program at a presentation on Tuesday, May 14 at 6:30 p.m. at Red Deer College’s Alternative Energy Lab, along with representatives from the Recycling Council of Alberta who will talk about system-wide opportunities in how Alberta handles waste.