Alberta Plans to Be First Province to Recycle Construction Waste

by 11/03/08 2 Comments

By 2010, Alberta Environment intends to establish a program to recycle construction and demolition waste, according to the Calgary Herald. This program will be the first of its kind for a Canadian province

Established through a partnership with the province, Alberta Construction Association and the Canadian Home Builders’ Association-Alberta, the initiative is strongly supported by the home builder’s industry.

At this time, Alberta has the highest rate of waste generated per capita out of all the Canadian provinces. Diana McQueen, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Environment, said Alberta wants to reverse its current waste ratio of 20 percent being recycled and 80 percent going to landfills.

The program may require construction companies to make a deposit before the start of a project. They would then be refunded, based on the amount of materials they recycle by weight, according to McQueen.

Other issues to be determined before the 2010 goal include the amount of required recycling, establishing legislation to back the initative and the accessibility of recycling facilities.

Jennifer Berry

Jennifer Berry

Jennifer Berry is the Social Media Editor and Sr. PR Director for Earth911.com. You can follow her on Twitter @jenn_berry.


As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments. The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.

2 Archived Comments

  1. jim sharpe

    posted on December 19th, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    looking for ways to despose of surplus property after construction of highway and was wondering if we could sell to recycle companies for demolition and recycling. That way we remove the buildings get some of our investment back, also the recycle company can make some money and we help the enviroment.

  2. Neil Maycock

    posted on January 13th, 2009 at 12:32 pm

    Hi Guys talking of recycling, I represent ERA (electronic Recycling Association) We are looking for volunteers to help us out here in Alberta.

    Volunteers wanted . Fixing computers for charities. The Era is looking for
    volunteers to help fix computers and electronic for donation to charity. ERA
    collects computers, laptops, monitors, lcds, servers and electronics for
    donation and recycling. Volunteers can earn a free computer for spending
    time at ERA and helping out. Volunteers can earn a free laptop for spending
    time at ERA and helping.

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