Drone Footage Raises Questions About Landfill Owner's Claims of Waste Pile Cleanup
A Calgary landfill and recycling facility says it has removed 13,600 tonnes of waste from a massive pile that accumulated along a busy southeast roadway over the past year. But drone video footage obtained by Postmedia appears to show trucks moving the material to another part of the property rather than hauling it away.
Loose trash and debris continues to accumulate outside of the Ecco Recycling plant in Calgary on Thursday, May 7, 2026. Businesses directly across from the plant have complained of odors, dust, and heavy truck traffic.
Meanwhile, a former senior manager of ECCO Recycling and Energy Corp. says the company has a long history of disregarding municipal land-use and permitting requirements at its landfill operation.
The waste pile, along 24th Street S.E. in the Shephard Industrial area, has raised concern among nearby residents and businesses over garbage and debris blowing from the site into surrounding communities.
ECCO previously said it aimed to remove the pile by the end of May. On June 1, ECCO president Alec McDougall said the pile had been reduced in size by about 50 per cent, with around 40 truckloads per day carrying material away from the pile.
However, drone footage captured May 29 appears to show trucks dumping the material elsewhere within the site along the southeast portion of its landfill mound. It is unclear whether this violates a June 2, 2025, ruling from the Land and Property Rights Tribunal, which prohibits ECCO from accepting and disposing of waste on the landfill portion of the site.
ECCO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gary Wilson, a former general manager who worked at the ECCO facility from 2012 to 2014, says issues related to non-compliance at the site stretch back more than a decade.
Shortly after assuming the role, Wilson said he discovered a large triangular section of the property was being landfilled without the necessary municipal approvals.
“We were running a landfill on a section of land that didn't even have a development permit from the city to be a landfill,” Wilson said. “The zoning didn't even allow for landfilling on that section of land.”
According to Wilson, the city instructed ECCO to cease landfilling activities in the area until it was brought into compliance. He claims operations staff were later instructed to resume landfilling in the area.
“The regulatory indifference was astounding,” Wilson said.
ECCO continues to accept truckloads of material despite lacking municipal authorization for outside storage on the parcel under its current land-use designation and development permits.
The city said it is pursuing litigation and enforcement action related to the site, including stop orders issued under the Safety Codes Act.
Meanwhile, Alberta Environment and Protected Areas says it has approved the company to operate the parcel as a waste storage facility.
Travis Ripley, assistant deputy minister for regulatory assurance with the province, confirmed ECCO has provincial approval under the Environmental Protection Enhancement Act to use the lot along 24th Street as a storage site.
