Residential waste rates for blue, green and black carts
What you pay for waste (Black Cart, Blue Cart and Green Cart) is shown on your ENMAX utility bill as user fees.
The program fees are calculated separately for each cart program based on the costs associated with collection and processing.
The costs for each program vary seasonally but this is averaged out over the year to keep the fee consistent from month-to-month.
Your monthly cart program fees are not a “per-collection” fee but cover all the components of the residential cart programs, including:
- Providing carts to Calgarians and cart maintenance
- Collection of material from your home
- Sorting, processing and disposing of material
- Education, outreach and program support
What are my cart fees?
| Program ($ per 30 days) | Jan – Mar 2025 Monthly fees | Apr – Dec 2025 Monthly fees | 2026 Monthly fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Cart | $7.39 | $7.39 | $7.71 |
| Blue Cart | $9.34 | $2.17 | $2.17 |
| Green Cart | $9.98 | $9.98 | $10.63 |
|
Total Monthly fee increase |
$1.01 | - $7.17 | $0.97 |
|
Total Monthly fee |
$26.71 |
$19.54 |
$20.51 |
Note: The amount billed is calculated by dividing the applicable monthly rate by thirty (30) to derive a daily rate and multiplying the daily rate by the actual number of days in the billing period.
As part of the provincial Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system, manufacturers are taking on most of the costs of recycling in Alberta. This means the Blue Cart fee for single-family households will be reduced as of April 1, 2025.
How are the blue, black and green cart programs paid for?
No property taxes are used for the cart programs.
The Black and Green Cart programs are fully funded through the program fees paid by Calgarians on their ENMAX utility bill.
The Blue Cart program is primarily funded by manufacturers through EPR, with a small portion of the Blue Cart fee remaining to fund program aspects not included in the EPR regulation.
Black cart
Prior to 2017, black cart service was funded through a combination of property taxes and the fee included on your ENMAX bill.
In 2017, black cart moved to every-other-week service and the property tax funding was removed. Since then, the program is solely funded by the Black Cart program fee on your ENMAX bill.
Green cart
The savings from seasonal green cart collection changes are incorporated into the costs and averaged out over the year to provide a consistent monthly fee.
This is why the green cart fee does not go down in the fall nor does it go up in the spring.
Blue cart
As part of the provincial Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system, manufacturers are taking on most of the costs of recycling in Alberta. This means the Blue Cart fee for single-family households will be reduced as of April 1, 2025.
Learn more about these changes at calgary.ca/epr.
Frequently asked questions
Why are cart programs funded by fees instead of property taxes?
Only the households that receive cart services pay for these programs through a monthly program fee on their ENMAX bill.
Taxpayers who do not have City waste services (e.g. condo owners) do not pay for programs they don’t receive.
This allows property taxes to fund community-wide initiatives instead.
Does the Waste & Recycling Services budget still receive property tax support?
For 2025, Waste & Recycling Services will continue to receive tax-support to fund community wide programs and strategic initiatives including:
- Education and communication
- Christmas Tree Depot Program
- Community Clean ups
- Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Program
Is a subsidy program available for property owners?
Waste & Recycling Services offers a $25 per year rebate to eligible participants through the Property Tax Assistance Program (PTAP).
There are other subsidy programs available that can help you decrease your monthly costs overall, including:
- City of Calgary – Fair Entry Program
- Alberta Seniors Property Tax Deferral Program
- Alberta Seniors Benefit
- Property Tax Assistance Program (PTAP)
These programs can help you with the affordability of your home.
Can I opt out of a cart program?
Program opt-outs are not available. Waste management is a community issue which requires a community-wide solution. We need all Calgarians to properly sort their waste for recycling, composting and garbage. Universal participation is essential to reducing waste going to landfill and to achieve our waste diversion and climate goals.
Research has shown that “opt-in” municipal programs cost more, have a lower participation rate and do not achieve the same level of diversion as universal programs.
The program fee is applied to all eligible households so that everyone shares in the cost. This keeps the program affordable for everyone.
Can I get a smaller cart or less collection?
Smaller carts and program opt-outs are not available.
The current pickup schedule is the minimum we have set to have the lowest number of pickups while still effectively picking up as much material especially during higher seasonal periods. The City conducts volume studies to look at how full bins are (blue, black and green) which is how we know that the current schedule works for most Calgarians.
You can do your part to keep all program costs low by recycling and composting right, reducing your waste where possible and only putting your carts out for collection when they are full.
All of these actions create a cost-effective residential cart program which benefits all Calgarians.
How do The City of Calgary’s fees compare with other cities?
It is difficult to compare costs across municipalities as each program and services provided are different.
However, in cities of comparable size with similar programs to Calgary, costs range from about $16.12 to $43.95 per month.