Okotoks Recycling Program

The Town of Okotoks and the people who live in this amazing town are on track to meet the 80% material diversion target from the landfill by 2020. The full plan can be downloaded here

Twelve months after introducing a mandatory curbside recycling program for all Okotoks home owners, the waste material diversion has increased by more than 30%.

Back in October 2016, every home in Okotoks was provided with a blue recycling cart and a green organics recycling cart to go with our normal black waste cart. When the new carts were delivered all Okotoks residents were given an opt out option and less than 2% opted out. This means Okotokian’s are very green and we take our waste disposal very seriously.

Prior to October 2016 the waste diversion rate for the Town was 45% and after the new carts were handed out this jumped to 61%. By the year 2020 the Town of Okotoks would like to see this climb to 80%.

So, what does this mean in real figures:

• It means an additional 100 tonnes of household waste is being diverted from the landfill every month.
• The recycling program saw an increase of 570 tonnes collected in the last year.
• Organic waste collection jumped by 49%, this equates to an additional 964 tonnes diverted from the landfill.
• 5 tonnes of textiles have been collected in the Clothing for a Cause bin at the Eco Centre, a company that supports charities in Haiti recycles this material.
• Since April 1.5 tonnes of Styrofoam as been dropped off at the Eco Centre.

The Town of Okotoks completed a citizen satisfaction survey and the results are promising. The survey asked 520 for their feedback and of those surveyed, 71% were satisfied with the program, 84% said they were using their blue carts and 76% said they used the green carts.

Okotoks is continuing it’s drive to be green and all multi-family facilities around Okotoks have been given a deadline of January 1, 2018, to implement their own recycling programs.

If you live in Okotoks please use the recycling and waste management programs that are available. We are lucky that waste management in Okotoks is as simple as opening the correct corresponding bin and the Town takes care of the rest.

The Eco Centre is located at:

1118 N Railway St, Okotoks, AB T1S

Sun – Mon: Closed
Tue – Wed: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thu: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Fri: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sat: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm