Walk-in returns
Walk in with your containers. Our team sorts and counts, and you leave with your refund. Mixed bags are fine.
Get directionsNorth Calgary's full-service bottle depot
Bring your empties.Leave with every cent.
Walk-in returns, bottle drives and commercial pickup at 11885 16 Street NE. Open seven days a week.
10¢ / 25¢Full Alberta deposit refund
No sortingBring mixed containers
Open dailySeven days a week
We pick upBusinesses and bottle drives
Three ways to return.
Bring a bag after the weekend, raise money for the team, or put your business on a pickup route.
Bottle drives
Schools, teams and charities: free trailer drop-off for your drive. We count everything and pay your group the full deposit.
Plan a driveCommercial pickup
Bars, restaurants, offices and venues: scheduled pickups from your door with an itemized count every time.
Book a pickupRefund calculator
What are your empties worth?
Count roughly what's in the garage. Cans, small bottles and juice boxes are 10¢. Anything over a litre, like 2 L pop, big juice jugs or boxed wine, is 25¢.
Quick rule of thumb. A 24-pack of cans is $2.40, a case of 12 is $1.20, and six 2-litre bottles are $1.50.
1 litre or lessCans, small bottles, juice boxes, pouches
Over 1 litre2 L bottles, large jugs, bag-in-box
Your estimated refund
$3.90
30 containers
Bottle drives
Your
cause.
Our wheels.
Free trailer drop-off at your location. Your group fills it, and we haul it back and count every container.
Make your next bottle drive easy to run.
You get supporters involved. We handle the hauling, the counting and the refund.
- Pick a date, a location and a contact person.
- Free trailer drop-off for your group to fill.
- If it fills up before your drive is done, call us and we'll empty it and bring it back.
- No drive day? Supporters can drop off at the depot under your group's name any time we're open.
If it held a drink, bring it in.
Alberta's deposit system covers more than 150,000 beverage container types, far more than most provinces. Here's the short list.
Aluminum cansPop, beer, sparkling water, energy drinks10¢
Plastic bottlesWater, pop, sports drinks, juice10¢, or 25¢ over 1 L
Glass bottlesWine, spirits, coolers, imported beer10¢, or 25¢ over 1 L
Milk containersJugs, cartons and bottles10¢, or 25¢ over 1 L
Cartons and TetraJuice boxes, gable tops, plant milks10¢, or 25¢ over 1 L
Drink pouchesFoil juice and drink pouches10¢
Bag-in-boxBoxed wine and juice25¢
Bi-metal cansTomato juice and other steel cans10¢, or 25¢ over 1 L
Please leave at home
These aren't part of the beverage deposit program, so we can't pay a refund on them: containers for non-beverages (oil, cleaners, sauces), infant formula and meal-replacement containers, broken glass, and containers with liquid still in them.
Not sure? Bring it and we'll tell you on the spot.
Alberta recycles like nobody else in Canada.
Every bag you bring in is part of one of the best-performing deposit systems in North America: industry-run, self-funded, and over 50 years old.
2.2B
containers returned to Alberta depots in 2025
BCMB 2025 Annual Report$220M
in deposit refunds paid back to Albertans in 2025
BCMB 2025 Annual Report#1
in Canada for container return rates, about 85% vs a 76% national average (2024)
Government of Alberta, Apr 2025150K+
different beverage container types accepted in Alberta
ABCRC2nd in North America. Only Oregon returns more, and Oregon only takes plastic, metal and glass. Alberta also takes cartons, pouches and boxed drinks.
About 219 depots across the province are independently owned local businesses, like us.
No tax dollars. The system is funded by unredeemed deposits, recycled material sales and container recycling fees paid by beverage makers.
Your empties have a second life.
After we count and bundle your containers, they're collected and processed in Alberta, then sold as raw material for new products.
Aluminum
Back into new cans
Aluminum can be recycled again and again. Making cans from recycled aluminum takes roughly 90–95% less energy than starting from ore.
Glass
Ground into fibreglass insulation
Returned glass is crushed to a fine powder used to make insulation. Some of it ends up in Alberta homes.
Plastic
Flaked into new resin
Bottles are baled, shredded and washed into plastic flake for new containers, fibres and products.
Cartons
Recovered for paper fibre
Juice boxes and gable tops are baled and sent on so their paper fibre can be reused.
Close to home in north Calgary.
Find us at 11885 16 Street NE, an easy stop for northeast and northwest communities.
Open in Google MapsQuick answers.
Do I need to sort my containers?
No. Bring them mixed in bags or boxes and our team sorts and counts everything. Keeping caps on and not crushing anything makes it faster.
How much do you pay?
The full Alberta deposit: 10¢ for eligible containers 1 litre or less and 25¢ for containers over 1 litre. Depots don't set these rates. They're set provincially and are the same at every Alberta depot.
Bringing in a big load?
Call ahead at (403) 272-7766 so we can have a counter ready, or ask about commercial pickup.
Running a business or a fundraiser?
We'll come to you, or help your group raise more.