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By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

RECYCLING FEE SAVINGS

Red Deer utility bills see reduction due to Extended Producer Responsibility program

Mar 10, 2025 | 4:55 PM

As of April 1, Red Deer residents will start to see savings on the recycling portion of their monthly utility bills.

The City has signed an 18-month contract with Circular Materials to remain as the service provider for recycling collection and sorting under the province’s Extended Producer Responsibility policy, it announced on March 10, during its regularly scheduled meeting of city council.

As a result, Red Deer will now get paid to collect blue bin materials and operate drop-off depots, previously a municipal expense charged on utility bills. This change will be felt by residents through a $5.20 reduction to their utility bill for single family homes and $5.15 for multi-family homes, per month.

By opting in as the service provider, the City says it’s ensuring there will be no impacts felt by users of the system; as residents can expect their pickup schedule and service levels to remain the same and to contact the same help number as always for inquiries or issues.

“One of the key reasons we wanted to opt in was to really stay as that customer service interface with our customers,” explained Janet Whitesell, Waste Management Superintendent. “The producers of packing products like this are taking over the whole province all on the same day, so it’s a big undertaking and we wanted to make sure our customers wouldn’t see hiccups in their service.”

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As a result of the resident savings, however, the City will see about a $200,000 annual revenue loss due to lower Municipal Consent and Access Fees (MCAF). These fees support the infrastructure needed to provide services and are charged as a certain percentage of utility bills. Lower resident bills equate to a lower total to take that percent from, leading to lower revenues from this fee for the municipality.

City Manager Tara Lodewyk said the City hopes to run a positive variance in 2025 that could absorb that loss, otherwise, consolidating it will be a future decision.

To put the changes announced today into effect and ensure documents reflect the changes, city council had to pass amendments to the utilities budget for 2025 and the Utility Bylaw. These amendments passed unanimously.

In 18 months, the City will have an opportunity to renew their contact for another three years, in one year increments, or allow service provision to transfer fully to Circular Materials.

The EPR legislation was introduced by the Government of Alberta in 2022 and goes into effect for residential packing, paper products and single-use products (PPP) as well as hazardous and special products (HSP) on April 1, 2025.

Related:

• Red Deer to explore becoming contracted service provider under EPR policy