Multi-family waste diversion in Calgary

As per Waste Bylaw 4M2020, multi-family complexes like apartments, condos and townhomes must separate recycling, food and yard waste from their garbage for diversion.

All multi-family complexes are different, and there is not one-size-fits-all solution. Building owners and managers have the flexibility to decide the best way to offer and manage their waste.

For more details about what’s required for multi-family recycling and food and yard waste collection, please see the following pages:

• Multi-family Recycling Requirements​
• Multi-family Food and Yard Waste Requirements

Most of what goes into the garbage is actually recyclable or compostable. Diverting recycling and food and yard waste from the landfill saves resources by giving these materials a second life.

When food and yard waste is buried in the landfill it doesn’t break down or turn into soil or anything useful. It ends up creating harmful emissions like methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) and leachate (a toxic liquid that needs to be treated).

By having a food and yard waste program you keep this material out of the landfill and turn it into high quality compost instead.

To learn more, see our Too Good to Waste Video.

By recycling and composting, we conserve resources by putting them back to productive use. If we don't recycle, we fill up valuable landfill space with materials that could have been given a second life.

Landfills are expensive to operate and when they fill up, it can be hard to get approval to open new ones. By recycling and composting, we can save a generation's worth of landfill space.