August 1 EPR Opt-in/Opt-out Deadline: What Municipalities Need to Know

ABmunis has received concerns and questions about the August 1 deadline for municipalities which currently provide recycling services to determine whether they want to continue providing collection services themselves and be reimbursed, or have recycling service managed by a non-profit organization designated under Alberta’s new EPR program. The purpose of this article is to provide background and links to further information to assist municipalities in making that determination. 

What is EPR?
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach where producers are given significant responsibility for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products. Currently, products sold in Alberta become waste managed by municipalities once they reach their end of life. EPR shifts this responsibility back to producers, thereby reducing the financial burden on municipalities and encouraging producers to design more sustainable products.

Why Has ABmunis Been Advocating for EPR?

• Cost Savings for Municipalities: By transferring the responsibility of waste management to producers, municipalities can collectively save up to $105 million per year on recycling collection service costs.
• Environmental Benefits: With producers being accountable for the entire lifecycle of their products, there is an incentive to increase recycling rates and reduce landfill waste.
• Economic Growth: EPR is expected to add $16 million to the Alberta economy annually and create 220 new jobs in the recycling industry.

August 1 Deadline 
As of now, municipalities representing 94% of Albertans have registered to participate in EPR. These municipalities have until August 1 to let circular materials know if they want to opt in or opt out of providing curbside recycling. 

• If a municipality opts in, they continue to manage their current recycling collection curbside and/or depot contract through a service agreement with Circular Materials through which they will reimburse municipalities for recycling costs.
  • For municipalities which opt to continue managing recycling, their next step is to provide Circular Materials an accounting of their costs. Circular Materials will work closely with those municipalities to identify eligible cost.
  • Circular Materials has released a compensation methodology on this page. The compensation methodology sets out which information sources Circular Materials will use to determine which costs a municipality will be reimbursed.  
• If a municipality opts out of providing recycling services themselves, Circular Materials will contract with incumbent curbside collection contractor or an alternative contractor directly. EPR regulations require Circular Materials to start providing services to single and multi-family dwellings in these municipalities by April 1, 2025

If you choose the opt-in transition model, you still have the choice to opt out of providing recycling in the future. Circular Materials would need about 18-months notice to take over recycling collection. 

If a municipality chooses to opt out and have Circular Materials provide services, it cannot opt in at a later time.

Learn More and Participate
Please refer to the resource guide provided by Circular Materials for more information on the two transitional models.  

ABmunis is hosting a session at our upcoming convention in Red Deer to discuss EPR, its benefits, and the progress made so far. Municipalities are encouraged to join the discussions, share their perspectives, and stay informed about the latest developments. 

To register for our upcoming convention, visit our registration page. For more detailed information on EPR, you can visit the ABmunis EPR page.