Green Organics Cart
The City of St. Albert provides all single family households and some multi-family homes and condo complexes with a Green Organics Cart for use in the curbside program.
Residents can only request one Green Organics Cart.
Cart Collection
The Residential Solid Waste Management Bylaw (6/2025) describes the rules and regulations which must be followed for waste collection.
Learn more by viewing the Cart collection rules
Failure to follow these regulations will result in:
- Carts being tagged with an explanation of what requirement is not being met.
- No cart collection.
What Goes in the Green Organics Cart?
Download the "What Goes Where?" Quick Sorting Guide or search for specific items using the tool below.
Curbside Collection Guidelines
Your Green Organics Cart is collected on your household's designated waste collection day:
- Every week from April to the end of October
- Every two weeks from November to the end of March
Please refer to the Collection Schedule for specific details.
- Do you need a food scraps container for your Green Organics Cart? Visit the Mike Mitchell Recycling Depot (7 Chevigny Street) during operating hours to pick up a container. Limit of one per household. For St. Albert residents only. A photo ID may be requested.
- Create a newspaper liner for your food scraps container. Once the liner is full, empty it into your Green Organics Cart. See the Organics Origami - Paper Liner instructions to learn how you can make your own liners.
- Compostable bags are not required for collection; however, if you do use them, please ensure the packaging contains a certified compostable logo. Please see the pictures below.
| Acceptable | Unacceptable |
 Certified compostable bags |  Clothes and textiles |
| Bread and baked goods | Electronics |
| Coffee grounds and filters | Garbage |
| Cooled and solidified grease | Hazardous materials |
| Dairy products | Plastic bags, wrap or wrappers |
| Eggs and eggshells | Single use to-go cups (e.g. coffee cups) |
| Facial tissue, napkins and paper towels | Hot and cold ashes |
| Flours, grains and dough | "Biodegradable" or "Compostable" utensils and take-out containers |
| Fruit and vegetable peels | Sod and dirt |
| Grass, leaf and yard waste (e.g. branches, flowers, plants, pumpkins, etc) | Pet waste |
| Meat products and bones | |
| Paper food containers and soiled & greasy pizza boxes | |
| Pasta and rice | |
| Shredded paper (loose) |
Additional Information
Some plastic bags are marked as biodegradable rather than compostable. There is a significant difference between the two terms and ONLY compostable bags are accepted for the City of St. Albert's Green Organics Cart. Biodegradable bags will leave plastic residue behind and do not fully decompose, which adversely affects the quality of the compost. Compostable bags (as identified with a BPI certified compostable logo) do not leave residue and completely decompose, making them acceptable for use in this program.
There is no cost difference between the Medium (120 L) and the Large (240 L) Green Organics Cart. Options are provided to meet varying household needs with food scraps and leaf and yard waste. For current billing rates, please visit our Accounts & Rates section.
To request a change in size, repair or replacement, please contact the City of St. Albert’s Wastewise team at 780-459-1557, wastewise@stalbert.ca, or complete the online request form on the Change, Repair, or Replace Carts page
A garburator is a unit that is typically installed underneath a kitchen sink. It shreds food and kitchen waste into small enough pieces to pass through the plumbing system. Using a garburator may seem like a convenient way to dispose of organic material, but it can cause problems with sewer lines in your home and put unnecessary stresses on wastewater treatment plants. Organic material that is ground up by a garburator accumulates on the small sewer pipes in your home causing sewer clogs and backups and the City of St. Albert does not endorse use of this unit for those reasons.
Many people find home composting not only convenient, but also a simple way to manage household waste more effectively.
For more information view the Home Composting page
Related Pages
Last edited: January 9, 2026
