Residential Sources

Food and Yard Waste

Organic materials such as plant wastes, grass clippings and food wastes make up over 30 per cent of the municipal solid waste stream. This figure becomes much larger, over 60 per cent organic material, if paper wastes are included, and higher still if wood wastes are included. While all of this organic waste can theoretically be composted into a usable soil amendment, paper wastes are generally destined for higher end use through established recycling programs.

There are basically three levels on which composting takes place in Alberta: composting at home; at institutions such as farms, hospitals and correctional facilities; and community or municipal scale composting.

The Composting Technology Centre, established in 1995 at Olds College, is a leader in research and education on composting methods for residents, municipalities and industry.

Glass

The majority of glass recovered in Alberta is recovered through the beverage container collection system. A large percentage of beverage containers, such as beer bottles, are returned to the manufacturer for reuse. Non-refillable beverage containers are being recycled for a variety of uses, including remanufacture into beverage containers. Other glass containers (jars) are being collected through some blue box programs and drop-off recycling facilities. The market for waste glass, however, is very low and is a major barrier to increasing the recovery for non-deposit glass containers and flat glass.

Metals

Sources of waste metals consist primarily of residential and commercially generated items such as steel and aluminum cans, white goods (fridges, stoves), small appliances and other miscellaneous items (metal furnishings, fasteners and fittings). Most sources of scrap metals are not considered part of the municipal solid waste stream, as they have traditionally been recovered for recycling due to their high value and are unlikely to end up in landfill.

Steel made from recycled scrap uses only one-quarter of the energy it takes to make it from its primary resource, iron ore. Aluminum can be recycled at savings of up to 95 per cent of the energy used to manufacture it from aluminum ore. Close to 75 per cent of ferrous scrap (steel) and 45 per cent of non-ferrous scrap (aluminum, brass, copper) are recovered for recycling.

Paper

Mixed Waste Paper - Mixed papers consist of a mixture of papers typically found in printing companies, households, institutions or small businesses. The variety of waste paper found in this category can range from high-end white ledger papers to lower value packaging papers such as cereal boxes, cleaning product packaging and milk cartons. Because of its mixed nature and also because it is generated in small quantities spread over relatively large distances, its monetary value as a recoverable material is low.
Old News Paper - Old Newspaper is the term used to define newsprint that has been through the printing process and has been discarded by consumers. This does include publisher overruns and newspapers that do not get sold. Although most old newspaper is recycled back into newsprint, other products manufactured from it include cereal boxes, corrugated cardboard, insulation materials, writing paper, egg cartons, tissue paper and animal bedding. ONP is the most visible and most widely collected waste paper grade in Alberta's municipal recycling programs and generally contributes the most revenue for municipal collection programs.

Plastics

By weight, plastics comprise approximately seven per cent of the municipal solid waste stream, but because they are often used to make food containers, boxes and other bulky items, they can account for up to 20 per cent by volume. In Canada, over 40 different kinds of plastics are used. These can be broken down into two major groups of plastic resins: thermoplastic and thermoset. Thermoset resins make up 10 per cent of the plastics in use. These are plastics that, once solidified, cannot be melted and resolidified and are therefore not suitable for recycling. Thermoplastic resins, on the other hand, have a molecular structure which allows them to be repeatedly melted and remoulded without major changes in quality.

The plastics recycling industry in Alberta has, for the most part, been built up around the recycling of post-industrial plastics -- those generated by thermoplastic manufacturers in the province. These are easy to collect, are uniform in resin type, are generally free from contaminants and are consistent in supply. These same characteristics cannot be guaranteed from post-consumer plastics, making the latter less valuable to recyclers. For more information on plastics, visit the Alberta Plastic Recycling Association web site.

Other Mixed

Other mixed residential waste consists primarily of other organic material, such as meat and fish wastes, diapers, etc.. This category also includes household hazardous materials, textiles, dust, etc.