Calgary launches pilot program to collect styrofoam for recycling

The City of Calgary has launched a six-month pilot program to collect styrofoam for recycling to help prevent the product from ending up in landfills.

The program kicked off Monday and the city says it will be an involved process with residents needing to bring “clean styrofoam” to any of the three staffed city landfills. At the sites workers will ensure the bags are only filled with styrofoam.

“We’ve heard from Calgarians that there is an interest and demand for recycling their styrofoam packaging,” says City of Calgary project manager Elias Tomaras. “Which would be similar to our Alberta municipalities like Edmonton, Airdrie, Cochrane and Okotoks.”

Types of packaging that will be accepted during the pilot include:

• shipping foam packing
• foam egg cartons
• foam meat trays, with absorbent pads removed
• foam take-out containers
• white and coloured foam (no black polysterene)

Calgary company Styro-Go will eventually take the foam to their facility and melt it into bricks to be used again for everything from bike helmets to cabinetry, the city says.

According to officials, the point of the project is to assess the financial feasibility of collecting styrofoam packaging for recycling. The city also hopes to see the convenience of recycling wrapped into one trip.

“Calgarians can bring their hazardous waste, any metal recycling, gardening waste, cardboard, styrofoam packaging now, and anything like tires, bikes, as well as a re-use area now for keeping materials out of the landfill,” says Tomaras.

Previously foam packaging has had to be thrown out in the garbage, because if it’s put into a blue bin it breaks down when compacted and the tiny broken pieces can’t be separated out from the other recyclables, meaning nothing can be recycled.

If residents are unable to take foam to the landfills then they should continue to put it in black bins as garbage, the city says.