Residential recycling pickup in the city has provided service to homes that are fourplexes or less since 2018. Courtesy/GFL

By Jesse Gill

RECYCLING

Medicine Hat residents can expect status quo after recycling management change

Mar 27, 2025 | 5:02 PM

The recycling program in the City of Medicine Hat will be managed by Circular Materials starting Tuesday.

It’s part of Alberta’s new province-wide extended producer responsibility program.

This shifts the cost of recycling single-use products, packaging and paper products onto the producer instead of the residential consumer.

Shane Briggs, the city’s waste and recycling manager, said all three recycling depot locations will remain the same and residential pick up should be status quo.

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“Our contractor GFL, will be the same contractor that people had,” Briggs said.

“They’ve given us excellent service for the five, six years that we’ve had them,” he added.

“I would be a little bit cautious if we were to have a new service provider, but that’s not the case. So we shouldn’t really miss a beat.”

Residential recycling pickup in the city has provided service to homes that are fourplexes or less since 2018.

Another phase of the program for larger multi-dwelling residences like condos is expected to roll out in Oct. 2026.

For residents currently paying a fee for recycling on their utility bill, they will notice savings of about $100 annually.

Briggs said new contact details for any customer service issues will be shared on the city website and the collection calendars.

“To start the transition, if people call our office, we’ll put them in contact with who they should talk to,” Briggs said.

Briggs adds the extended producer responsibility program has been done successfully in other provinces and is something that has been in the works for about 12 years.