Do I Have To Sort My Bottles For The Bottle Depot In Alberta?
No, you do not have to pre sort your bottles and cans before taking them to the bottle depot in Alberta, Canada.
Most bottle depots in Alberta have people to count and sort them, or in some cases, machines.
Sorting bottles and cans into size and type is a personal choice. It helps to save time for yourself and the bottle depot staff.
Whether you choose to sort or not, it is important to ensure that all liquids are removed from the containers first. Also, make sure you are not bring a bunch of garbage with you.
The bottle depot in my small rural town is more relaxed. Some places may be more strict.
For example: I usually bring giant clear plastic bags full of bottles and cans. With the staff’s direction, I dump them out onto their counting table. The staff begins sorting and counting. Occasionally, they allow me to assist them.
How To Sort Bottles and Cans for Alberta Bottle Depots:
Though you are not required to pre sort, you may choose to save time. Here is how you do it:
- Anything Glass, bring it in a box. Beer bottles are the only product that can (and should) be brought in the original box you bought it in. Next time you have a party, keep the boxes for the empties. This is not the same for anything else like pop can boxes, plastic rings etc. That stuff is all garbage.
- Have a clear plastic bag for anything (not glass) 1L or less. For example, 1L plastic pop bottles in the same bag as aluminum pop cans and beer cans.
- A second clear plastic bag for anything (not glass) over 1L.
DO NOT crush your cans! They will usually accept them crushed, but they are technically required to be uncrushed.
You might be asking ”why clear plastic bags?”
- Clear because I don’t want to mix them up with my black garbage bags and accidentally throw them away. Also, I need to see which type they are.
- Bags instead of boxes or ”flats” because all that cardboard takes up more space and can be quite cumbersome for storage and transport. Bags can be reused, or easily bunched up and thrown away.
Now you might be asking ”Why just these 3 sorting groups? I thought there were many more categories than this.”
There are many different sizes and materials of bottles and cans. You can sort them into many different groups if you choose to, but it is simply not necessary.
Here is a pricing and sorting chart. As you can see, there are many categories, and you can get carried away with it.
The 3 sorting groups discussed above is perfectly adequate because:
- It is the recommendation of most bottle depots, such as this one here.
- It is simple and easy to organize and keep track of in your home and garage.
- It sorts them into the 2 main groupings that matter the most, and that’s deposit amounts. (glass in boxes instead of bags is not due to deposit amounts).
How Much Do Bottle Depots Pay In Alberta?
Anything 1L or less is $0.10, everything over 1L is $0.25. It is a very simple system.
