Town eyes curbside recycling

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Town of Strathmore is anticipating a shift in local recycling services, looking to phase out the current depot, in favour of a curbside service. 

As of April 1, 2025, the town has participated in an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program, intended to put the burden of costs on producers of products rather than on consumers. 

Ethan Wilson, manager of infrastructure for the Town of Strathmore, explained administration has been participating in the planning and rollout of EPR services since late 2023.

“Users likely did not see a change to their services at that time; however, utility rates were able to be reduced, and over $200,000 in rebates were received in 2025,” he said. “October 2026 is the next change that we expect and this is when curbside recycling will be rolled out to all single-family homes.”

The service, he explained, will be provided by Circular Materials, which is the provincial representative. 

Users will be expected to comingle their recycling rather than sort it as they currently do, and the town’s recycle yard will no longer be required following the rollout. The town will continue to collect household hazardous waste, and administration is currently reviewing how to best continue the service. 

Though it is not automatic through the single-family program, multi-family residential sites are also able to register for curbside recycling collection. Communications on the program are expected to be distributed as they become available closer to the rollout date this fall.

Details of recycling bin delivery are anticipated this summer, with collection schedules to be established as similar to ongoing garbage and organics collection.

“The transition will also allow administration to review the frequency of garbage and organic collections; however, that is unlikely to change for one to two years as we understand the change in volumes for each of those,” said Wilson.

Circular Materials will be responsible for hiring the company which will be conducting curbside collections in Strathmore. The town has not yet been informed which contractor this will be.

Regarding future council decisions on the matter, once the future of household hazardous waste collections is determined, administration will be able to calculate required levies and utility costs to be proposed for the 2027 utility rate bylaw. 

Because recycling services and collections will not be operated by the town, questions or concerns from residents will have to go through whichever contractor wins the bid to service the town.

Questions regarding garbage and organics collection will continue to go through the town as normal.