New provincial recycling program kicks in this week

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – As of Monday, most BC cities and towns will be covered under a new recycling program. For most of us in the Lower Mainland, it will mean more things can be put in the blue bins instead of the trash.

The managing director of Multi-Material BC (MMBC) explains what additional items can be recycled.

“The most notable will be milk cartons, tetra pak containers that would have contained soup and almond milk, plant pots, aerosol containers and coffee cups,” says Allen Langdon.

However, the system won’t accept glass, and the organization has given municipalities one year to phase it out of their blue box systems.

Langdon concedes not all of corners of the province have signed on to the program.

“We’re only going to cover about 75 per cent of the province this year. But over the summer we are going to be looking for opportunities to expand the collection system.  And in the Lower Mainland,  we’re covering pretty much all of it, except for Delta and the Township of Langley,” he notes.

Delta did not opt into the program and the Township of Langley could not get out of its contract with the current blue box collector.

Langdon, though, points out towns such as Terrace, Smithers, 100 Mile House, Nakusp and  Kaslo are for the first time getting curb-side pickup of their recyclables, thanks to the program.

As for apartment dwellers, the changes affect only buildings that currently get their blue boxes collected by the municipality.

The new system means municipalities will no longer have to bear the cost for collection services. That burden will now be put on businesses, by way of fees that are based on how much packaging there is with their products. MMBC then collects the fee to pay for collection services.