There are a couple things you can do to make your trip to the Depot faster and more convenient.
First, take a minute to sort by size. All containers that are 1 litre or less are worth 10 cents, and all containers larger than 1 litre are worth 25 cents.
Second, if you have a bit more space, you can sort by material type. If you have a lot of containers of a specific type, such as aluminum cans, you can group them together. Similarly, if you have a lot of water or pop plastic containers, group these together.
For more information on the common sorts, visit What it Becomes
Another tip to make your Depot experience better is to empty and rinse your containers before storing them at home, leave the lids off so they can dry.
This means you will have less odour and less chance of flies and wasps to deal with.
You can speed things up at the depot by taking the caps off your containers at home while you are putting the containers in your recyling bin or bag.
Please make sure you keep the plastic caps, because it can be donated to the Caps 4 Kids program, a partnership with the Rainbow Society of Alberta. For more information, click here.
We can only ship empty beverage containers back to the processor. Everything else that you bring to the depot ends up in the landfill. Please take a minute at home to remove things like 6-pack cartons or rings, and any other packaging that your beverage containers came in and sort it out into garbage and reclyclable materials.
The only exception to this is the cardboard box that your refillable brown beer bottles (ISBs) were sold in. Bring those in with your ISBs to your local depot since this is the way the manufacturer needs us to ship them back to the brewery.
If the money isn't the primary reason you recycle your beverage containers, then consider making a donation at your local Depot. This means you don't have to wait for your refund, and the entire deposit will go to a charitable cause in your community.
One chariable cause found at your local depot is the Alberta Cans 4 Kids program, which raises money through the contribution of beverage containers by ordinary Albertans like you. For more information, click here.