Beginning in February 2018, the City of Powell River will be joining Recycle BC’s residential packaging and paper recycling program. The City will receive incentives to continue to collect recycling material, including packaging and paper from Powell River residents.
Recycle BC is responsible for residential packaging and paper recycling across British Columbia. Recycle BC works in partnership with local governments, like Powell River, and other organizations, to ensure packaging and paper is collected, sorted and responsibly recycled. Recycle BC is funded by businesses that produce and supply packaging and paper to BC residents.
Shawn Cator, the City’s Manager of Operational Services said “Businesses pay fees to Recycle BC based on how much and the type of packaging and paper they supply to BC residents. Recycle BC pays the City of Powell River to collect the recyclables. All the costs associated with shipping, packaging and actual disposal will now be borne by Recycle BC.”
“We’re excited to have the City of Powell River join Recycle BC’s province-wide packaging and printed paper recycling program,” said Allen Langdon, Managing Director of Recycle BC. “Powell River now joins 156 other BC communities that participate in the program, receiving curbside or multi-family collection services.”
Cator said with the new program, there will be no changes to the way people recycle curbside.
“We recycle the same materials,” he said. “We are still not going to recycle glass, plastic bags and foam packaging like styrofoam curbside. Those items can be taken to the recycling depot. We are still collecting one stream, so householders put one recycle bin out for collection with all the accepted recyclables in it and we come and get it. Nothing changes for the customer.”
In an effort to ensure the collected materials can be responsibly recycled, contamination levels need to be at three percent or less. It is important that residents only put materials accepted for recycling at curbside in their recycling bin for collection. Non-recyclables, such as garbage or organics, need to be excluded from curbside recycling bins, and glass, foam packaging, plastic bags and overwrap should be directed to the depot for recycling. A list of materials accepted for recycling at the curb can be found in the Waste Wise Guide on the City of Powell River website at www.powellriver.ca
Recycle BC is also interested in seeing an increase in the volume of recyclables per household. Over the next several months, City staff will be investigating opportunities to increase curbside participation and recycling volumes. Some of these options include removal of garbage tags to make curbside collection easier for residents; and supplying larger recycle bins for residents. Another tool is a program called ReCollect that is available to remind residents when they have garbage and recycling collection. Residents can go on the City website and sign up for the ReCollect program, where they can receive emails, phone calls, text messages, embed the collection dates in their online calendars, or print calendars to remind them of their collection schedule.