Every time you buy a ready-to-consume drink product in Alberta, you will pay a deposit on the can, bottle, or carton it comes in. When you return the empty drink container to the bottle depot, you get your deposit refunded. Most Calgarians choose to save up their bottles, cans, and cartons until they have several to return at the same time. Then they go to the Calgary bottle depot to get their refund back.
When returning your empty containers to the bottle depot, you’ll have the option to take them in yourself, use curbside drop off, or schedule a pick up to your business or residence. If you choose one of the best Calgary bottle depots, you may even be able to access the convenience of pick up or curbside without giving up a portion of your refund amount or paying fees. A great bottle depot will also partner with local non-profit organizations and community groups to allow you to donate your refund to them and even get a tax receipt for your donation.
The bottle depot offers an eco-friendly recycling solution to the city because they desire to obtain the refund amount paid for each bottle means that someone will ensure every can, bottle, or carton sold makes its way back to the depot to be recycled. Getting the materials to the bottle depot is one of the most challenging parts of any recycling program.
Once your empties have gotten back to the bottle depot, they are sorted and sent to the appropriate recycling facility. Most cans are cleaned, crushed, and melted down to be reused into new sheets of thin aluminum that new cans are made from. Aluminum is able to be reused endlessly so taking your cans back means they can continue to use the raw materials initially required and means that new materials won’t be needed. Steel and glasswork are very much the same way!
Glass bottles are sanitized and inspected. Those that are sound to be reused are then sent to bottling facilities to refill and redistribute. If the glass is broken or weakened, it can be melted or crushed to be made into items such as fiberglass, aggregate, glasphalt, and new containers. Of all the glass recycled, 90 percent goes to the container industry to make bottles and jars.
Empty cartons such as milk, milk alternatives, and juice containers are also reused. They are typically made of a combination of paper and plastic. The cartons are sorted and sent to a paper mill, where they go through a process called hydro pumping. This involves putting the containers into a giant blender-like machine, where they get mixed around with water until all three layers separate. The fibrous pulp pools at the top while the heavier aluminum and plastic sink to the bottom. Once complete, the paper fiber is ready to be used in manufacturing products such as toilet paper, tissues, office supplies, and cardboard boxes.
Returning your empty drink containers to the Calgary bottle depot is an eco-friendly recycling solution.
