In December 2014, Multi-Material BC (MMBC) was announced as an official sponsor of the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, BC. MMBC is providing 550 receptacles to be used to collect recycling between February 13 and March 1. After the games, the receptacles will be provided to Emterra Environmental to use to collect recycling …
The Recycle BC residential packaging and paper recycling program is an example of extended producer responsibility (EPR), where the companies and organizations that produce or distribute a material—in this case packaging and paper—are responsible for collecting and managing the material at the end of its useful life. More than 20 similar programs exist in BC …
The Multi-Material BC (MMBC) Packaging and Printed Paper Stewardship Plan outlines how MMBC operates within the pollution prevention hierarchy. The pollution prevention hierarchy is a series of steps to manage waste, in order of the preferred approach. It’s often simplified to “reduce, reuse, recycle”, but there are some additional steps. The first step of the …
The Multi-Material BC (MMBC) packaging and printed paper program is the first program of its kind in Canada. That is, ours is the first program in Canada that is financed entirely through stewards (the companies that supply packaging and printed paper to BC residents). Our program is also the first packaging and printed paper recycling …
Are you unintentionally preventing your recycling from being recycled? You could be if you are tying your recyclables into plastic bags (such as grocery bags) before placing them in your recycling or nesting different types of containers together (e.g. a metal can inside of a plastic tub). When we receive materials in these ways, they …
You might find yourself with extra recycling after gifts have been exchanged and eggnog has been consumed (remember to add the empty container to your recycling!). Below are three tips for recycling over the holidays. Check your recycling collection schedule to see if it changes because of the holiday. If your recycling is collected directly …
You can help ensure that more materials are recycled as part of the MMBC packaging and printed paper recycling program by following these simple steps: Empty and rinse your containers. Containers with contents remaining can’t be recycled, and can harm workers in the recycling facility or damage machinery. Sort your materials for curbside or multi-family …
Many types of plastic container packaging are accepted in the Recycle BC packaging and paper product recycling program, including several containers that you might not think to include. (Note, while the references below are to lids, you can also recycle caps, tops, pumps, and spray nozzles.) Plastic cold drink cups and lids: These containers are …
If you take a close look at the bottom of a plastic bottle or jar, you might notice a symbol consisting of a number surrounded by a triangle or three arrows in the shape of a triangle—this is called the resin identification code. Many people think that this symbol means that the package can be …
Compostable or biodegradable packaging is not accepted in Recycle BC’s program as it is incompatible with the recycling process. But what does that mean? When material is collected from residents’ curbs or from multi-family buildings, it is taken to a processing facility to be sorted into groups of like materials and baled. The result is …
While most packaging is accepted in Multi-Material BC (MMBC)’s packaging and printed paper recycling program, there are some materials that we ask you not to put in your recycling bin. Below we explain why. First, let’s review what you can recycle: Printed paper, most plastic containers, most paper containers and metal containers can be taken …
Two closely-related questions that Multi-Material BC (MMBC) receives are “Where does my recycling go?” and “When does MMBC have to report on its program?” The Recycling Regulation, which is the reason why MMBC exists, specifies that a stewardship program, such as MMBC, must issue a public report annually (by July 1) that describes the previous …
Multi-Material BC (MMBC) is registered as a non-profit organization under BC’s Society Act, which specifically prohibits non-profit organizations from “carrying on a business, trade, industry or profession for profit or gain”. This means that for us to maintain our status as a non-profit organization, MMBC cannot—and does not—operate with the intention of making a profit. …
Multi-Material BC (MMBC) wants all packaging and printed paper supplied to BC residents to be collected and recycled. This is a long-term, aspirational goal, but there are steps that we are taking now to move towards it. One way we do this is through the fees that stewards—the companies that produce or supply packaging and …
We encourage residents to rinse their containers before adding them to recycling, but is this necessary? How clean do they need to be? Rinsing your containers before adding them to the recycling bin makes for a more pleasant recycling experience at home and in recycling facilities, and can help ensure that more materials are recycled. …
