What goes in the black cart? Calgary garbage guide

The black cart is for household garbage left after reuse, recycling and composting. It is collected every two weeks.

Checked against City of Calgary sources on October 5, 2026

Common black-cart items

• Bagged diapers, wipes and other hygiene products.
• Cutlery and straws labelled compostable. Regular plastic cutlery, straws and drink lids now go in the blue cart.
• Contained vacuum dust, broken non-electronic toys and garden hoses.
• Synthetic corks and safely packaged broken dishes. Wax paper now goes in the blue cart.

No longer garbage since October 1, 2026

Foam packaging, snack bags and wrappers, pouches, toothpaste and lotion tubes, and aerosols you eat or apply to your body now go in the blue cart instead. See the new blue cart items.

Prepare waste safely

• Double-bag dust and powders and tie closed.
• Secure sharp fragments in a puncture-resistant container, close it and mark it “sharps”. Medical needles have specific packaging and pharmacy options.
• Close the cart lid. The cart’s weight limit is 60 kg; heavy construction material should fill no more than half the cart.

Extra garbage bags

Fill the cart first. Each extra bag needs a City garbage tag wrapped around the tied knot, must weigh under 20 kg (if you can lift it with one hand, it is usually fine) and goes 0.5 m to the side of your black cart on collection day. Store extra bags in a garage, shed or sealed bin until then to avoid pests. Where to buy garbage tags.

Items that need another route

Food scraps, parchment, natural corks and cooking oil have green-cart routes. Empty paper coffee cups and paper egg cartons can be recycled. Batteries, paint, hazardous chemicals and electronics need designated drop-off options.

Oversized furniture and appliances cannot be left beside the carts. Compare large-item options or find the right drop-off type.