Commercial/ Business Recycling

As a commercial business operating in the Bow Valley region, your recyclables can be taken to local municipal depots or the landfill for diversion from the waste stream. Not all items are accepted at each location, therefore it is important to check specific items to determine where they can be taken for recycling.

What locations accept commercial / business recycling items?
Appliances
Batteries
Cardboard and boxboard
Cooking oil / grease
Electronic waste (e-waste)
Fluorescent light tubes and bulbs
Glass – clear and coloured
Household Hazardous Waste – Toxic Round Up and Paint Exchange
Magazines
Metal - scrap
Newspaper
Paper – mixed and office
Phone directories
Plastics – mixed
Scrub and brush
Tires
Used oil, antifreeze, containers and filters
Yard waste – grass, leaf and garden clippings

What locations accept commercial / business recycling items?

Banff:

Operations Yard (located at 120 Hawk Avenue)
Banff Recycle Center (located at 120 Hawk Avenue)

Canmore:

Boulder Depot (located at 115 Boulder Crescent)

MD of Bighorn:

Dead Man’s Flats Depot (located on Second Avenue)
Exshaw Depot (located on Mount Allen Drive)
Harvie Heights (located on Bow River Drive)
Jamieson Road (located beside firehall)
Ghost River (located on Highway 940 west of Waiperous)

Francis Cooke Regional Landfill:

Resource Recovery Centre (located 4 km east of Exshaw)

Click here to view the landfill rate card

Note: not all of the above locations accept all materials for recycling. Please check specific items for locations.

Appliances

Appliances are transformed into steel, which can be made into rebar, using only one-quarter of the energy it would take to make it from iron ore.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Operations Yard, nominal fee. Washers, dryers, dishwashers, hot water heaters, stoves, furnaces and fridges are accepted.

Francis Cooke Regional Landfill: fees apply

Batteries

Automotive batteries:

Please ensure automotive batteries are place inside the provided containers. Handle with care as often old batteries leak, causing acid burns.

The plastic casing from automotive batteries becomes new plastic casing. The lead cells become new lead cells. The acid is reused in the production of polystyrene.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Operations Yard

Canmore: Boulder Depot

Single-use household batteries:

These include AA, AAA, C, D and 9-volt batteries. The mercury content has been phased out in their construction therefore they can go into the garbage.

Currently not recycled in Alberta.

Rechargeable batteries:

Commonly found in cordless power tools, cellular and cordless phones, CD players, laptop computers, digital cameras and remote control toys. They contain potentially harmful chemicals and should not be disposed of in normal household waste.

Reusable material from rechargeable batteries includes nickel, iron, lead and cobalt. Some of these metals are used to make new batteries and stainless steel.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Operations Office

Canmore: Boulder Depot

MD of Bighorn: MD Office in Exshaw

Cardboard and boxboard

No oil soaked or waxy cardboard, plastics, or Styrofoam. Please flatten boxes.

Cardboard and boxboard is recycled into new cardboard, boxboard, building paper and shingles.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Banff Recycle Center

Canmore: Boulder Depot

MD of Bighorn: Dead Man’s Flats Depot, Exshaw Depot, Harvie Heights Depot, Lac Des Arcs Depot, Jamieson Road Depot and Ghost River Depot

Francis Cooke Regional Landfill: This includes corrugated cardboard (i.e. packing boxes and empty pizza boxes) and boxboard (i.e. small supply boxes).

Cooking oil / grease

(Under construction)

Electronic waste (e-waste)

This includes computers, monitors, CPU, keyboard, mouse, cables, speakers, printers, laptops, and televisions. As a general rule, if you can plug it in, the depots will take it.

Electronic waste can contain heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium as well as other harmful substances. These items are collected as part of the Electronics Recycling Alberta (www.albertarecycling.ca) program. Fees are charged when purchasing new electronic items to help offset the recycling costs.

Electronic waste contains a number of valuable materials than can be broken down and reused. Wires, cables and circuits contain steel, aluminum and copper metals. Glass from computer monitors and television screens can be crushed and reused. Keyboards, computer cases and mice contain plastic that can also be recycled into new products.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Operations Yard

Canmore: Boulder Depot

Fluorescent light tubes and bulbs

This includes all fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent bulbs.

Fluorescent bulbs contain mercury, which is a toxic material so care should be taken not to break them.

The mercury is recovered from fluorescent bulbs. The glass bulb, the aluminum end caps and phosphor powder is also separated and reused or recycled.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Operations Yard (nominal fee)

Canmore: Boulder Depot

Glass – clear and coloured

This includes clear and coloured glass jars that have been cleaned and rinsed.

No lids (place in metal bin), food residue, light bulbs, window glass, ceramic or porcelain dishes.

The glass collected in the Bow Valley is used locally at the Lafarge Canada Inc. plant in Exshaw where it is ground back into sand and used in their concrete production.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Banff Recycle Centre

Canmore: Boulder Depot

MD of Bighorn: Dead Man’s Flats Depot, Exshaw Depot, Harvie Heights Depot, Lac Des Arcs Depot, Jamieson Road Depot and Ghost River Depot

Household Hazardous Waste – Toxic Round Up and Paint Exchange

Household Hazardous Wastes consist of solid or liquid materials and their containers. These materials are flammable, corrosive, explosive or toxic. These potentially hazardous products such as pesticides, herbicides, cleaners, aerosols, solvents, and poisons should not be disposed of in landfills or sewage systems.

Collected four times a year throughout the Bow Valley as part of the Household Hazardous Waste - Toxic Round Up and Paint Exchange Program. See the Upcoming Events for locations, dates and times.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Downtown Depot – must pre-register

Canmore: must pre-register

MD of Bighorn: must pre-register

Magazines

Magazines are pulped and converted into a variety of new products such as building insulation, paper towels, and bathroom tissue.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Banff Recycle Centre

Canmore: Boulder Depot, (combined with mixed paper)

MD of Bighorn: Dead Man’s Flats Depot, Exshaw Depot, Harvie Heights Depot, Lac Des Arcs Depot, Jamieson Road Depot and Ghost River Depot (combined with mixed paper)

Metal - scrap

This includes tin food cans and lids, jar lids, and aluminium pie plates. No food residue. Empty dried out paint cans are okay. Please fold the lid inside the can and flatten for the safety of the workers.

No metal hangers, wire, propane tanks, or batteries. No hazardous wastes (i.e. wet paint).

Metal food cans may be recycled into rebar, car parts and new food cans.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Operations Yard

Canmore: Boulder Depot,

MD of Bighorn: Dead Man’s Flats Depot, Exshaw Depot, Harvie Heights Depot, Lac Des Arcs Depot, Jamieson Road Depot and Ghost River Depot

Francis Cooke Regional Landfill: fees apply

Newspaper

This includes newsprint, flyers and inserts. Please no magazines.

Old Newspaper (ONP) is recycled into new newsprint, boxboard, insulation materials, and roofing shingles.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Banff Recycle Centre

Canmore: Boulder Depot,

MD of Bighorn: Dead Man’s Flats Depot, Exshaw Depot, Harvie Heights Depot, Lac Des Arcs Depot, Jamieson Road Depot and Ghost River Depot (combined with magazines)

Paper – mixed and office

This includes white and coloured paper, copier paper, computer paper, fax paper, loose leaf paper, can / jar labels, envelopes (windows are fine), construction paper, brown paper bags (no waxy interior), shredded paper and junk mail.

Staples and paper clips are fine. Please no carbon paper, cellophane, food wrapping, bubble plastic envelopes, phone directories.

Mixed waste paper is recycled into boxboard, egg cartons, building paper and roofing shingles.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Banff Recycle Centre

Canmore: Boulder Depot

MD of Bighorn: Dead Man’s Flats Depot, Exshaw Depot, Harvie Heights Depot, Lac Des Arcs Depot, Jamieson Road Depot and Ghost River Depot

Phone directories

No catalogues, magazines or plastic bags.

Made into shingles, building paper, egg cartons, and boxboard.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Banff Recycle Centre

Canmore: Boulder Depot
Includes all local phone directories.

Plastics – mixed

All mixed plastic items must be clean, empty and lids removed. Labels may be left on containers. Please no plastic bags, Styrofoam, or toys.

The following classifications of plastic are acceptable for recycling in the region.

Check the container for a mobius loop (three arrow triangle symbol) to see if it has one of the following numbers:
PET (polyethylene terephthalate)
HDPE (high density polyethylene)
PVC (polyvinyl chloride)
PP (polypropylene)
PS (polystyrene) – rigid only, not foamed or expanded (NO STYROFOAM)
OTHER

These plastics are recycled into many products including plastic lumber, carpet, various containers, and vehicle curbs.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Downtown Depot

Canmore: Boulder Depot

MD of Bighorn: Dead Man’s Flats Depot, Exshaw Depot, Harvie Heights Depot, Lac Des Arcs Depot, Jamieson Road Depot and Ghost River Depot

Scrub and brush

Topsoil is removed from the scrub and brush. It is then chipped on site. Wood chips and mulch are available for no charge.

See Aggregate and Recycled Product Sales.

Accepted Locations:

Francis Cooke Regional Landfill: fees apply
This includes trees and stumps from site clearing.

Tires

Used tires are shredded and the inner metal part is removed. The shredded rubber sometimes goes through another process to produce rubber crumb, which can be shaped and formed into many different products. It can be made into roofing tiles and building products, playground surfaces, landscaping tiles, livestock mattresses and mats, and rubber asphalt roads.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Operations Yard

Francis Cooke Regional Landfill: fees apply This includes passenger car and truck tires. They are collected as part of the Tire Recycle Alberta program (www.albertarecycling.ca). Rims must be removed.

Used oil, antifreeze, containers and filters

Antifreeze is recycled into new antifreeze. The used oil is cleaned and made into new oil. The used oil containers are cleaned and recycled into new plastic products.

Used oil filters are recycled into metal products such as rebar, wire or nails.

Accepted Locations:

Private collector:
(under construction)

Canmore: Boulder Depot

Yard waste – grass, leaf and garden clippings

Yard and garden clippings are accepted from April until October. Please place yard waste into the bin. Do not use plastic garbage bags.

Yard and garden clippings are composted at the Francis Cooke Regional Landfill. Finished compost is available for sale. Contact the Landfill for information.

Accepted Locations:

Banff: Operations Yard

MD of Bighorn: Exshaw Depot, Harvie Heights Depot and Lac Des Arcs Depot

Francis Cooke Regional Landfill: fees apply