North Okanagan

Recycle BC’s collection partner Emterra Environmental will be delivering grey boxes to all homes. If you have not received your grey box by December 1, 2020, please contact Emterra Environmental at 250-545-4245 or askmebc2@emterra.ca.  

Our contractor will deliver a grey box to each home in the month of November. Please use your new grey box for clear or colored non-deposit glass bottles and jars. 

Please use your blue box for mixed containers, including hard plastic packaging, metal cans, aluminum foil wrap and containers, cartons (milk, soup, etc.) spiral wound cans and lids (frozen juice concentrate, chips, etc.), hot and cold beverage cups (coffee cups, slushy drinks), and empty aerosol cans.

Use your other blue box for paper products, including printed paper (flyers, magazines, envelopes, etc.), paper packaging that held dry products (shoes, crackers, eggs, etc.), and cardboard. Corrugated cardboard that does not fit in this bag can be flattened, cut into pieces smaller than 30 x 30 inches (76 x 76 cm), and stacked between recycling containers.

You can also search what can be recycled online (RecycleBC.ca/Materials) or using the Recycle BC app for information on if and how specific materials should be included in your recycling.  

Sorting materials properly into three categories can reduce the amount of contamination in the recycling streams and ensure that more of the materials collected are successfully recycled. Glass bottles and jars can break easily with small pieces becoming embedded in other material resulting in contamination. Proper sorting will also reduce the health and safety risk for drivers.  

Contact our collection partner Emterra Environmental to report a missed collection or any other customer service issues by calling 250-545-4245 or via email askmebc2@emterra.ca.

Learn how to correctly sort your materials using the following resources: 

• Your RecycleBC residential recycling guide
• RecycleBC.ca/Materials has our accepted material listavailable for download, as well as a “What Can I Recycle?” search tool 
• Download the Recycle BC app from the App Store orGoogle Play, or visit RecycleBC.ca/App 

If you have additional questions for Recycle BC about these changes, please email info@recyclebc.ca.  

There is no limit to how much recycling you can set out. If all of your materials do not fit in your recycling boxes, please try consolidating them. For example, bulky plastic jugs, cartons, and boxes can be flattened; smaller metal cans be placed inside larger metal cans; plastic containers can be fitted inside each other (e.g. yogurt containers), etc. If you have additional recyclables that do not fit into your blue boxes, these can be placed in a rigid container of your choice, such as a laundry hamper. Corrugated cardboard that does not fit in your bag can be flattened, cut into pieces no larger than 30” x 30” (76 cm x 76 cm), and stacked between your recycling containers.

If you regularly have more recycling than your boxes can accommodate, you might want to purchase another blue recycling box, as long as the container is similar in size and shape to your existing ones. Most hardware stores carry blue boxes of different sizes. You can also purchase a new container by contacting Emterra Environmental at askmebc2@emterra.ca or 250-545-4245.

No. Under the BC Recycling Regulation, businesses that supply packaging and paper to BC residents are responsible for managing recycling programs. Recycle BC uses fees paid by businesses to pay for the curbside recycling program.

Please contact Emterra Environmental, the company that Recycle BC selected to collect curbside recycling in North Okanagan, for recycling containers.

Email: askmebc2@emterra.ca
Phone: 250-545-4245

Each approved curbside household receiving blue box curbside collection service is eligible to receive: 

• Up to one blue box replacement for paper, and up to one blue box replacement for containers every three years without charge; and  
• Up to one grey box replacement every three years without charge.  

No. Your local government no longer provides curbside collection of residential packaging and paper. As of May 19, 2014, per BC’s Recycling Regulation, the businesses that supply packaging and paper to residents are responsible for financing the collection and recycling of these materials. Recycle BC works on behalf of these businesses to manage your recycling program.

No. Recycle BC’s packaging and paper recycling program does not affect garbage collection.

Curbside recycling collection is every other week. Please check the Curbside Recycling Guide or address search tool for your collection day.

In the North Okanagan, curbside recycling is collected by Emterra Environmental. If you have questions about your recycling collection or need additional information, please contact:

Email: askmebc2@emterra.ca
Phone: 250-545-4245