Ambassadors to help with recycling education

The Regional District of Central Okanagan will be back on the streets again this fall with the help of their recycling ambassadors, randomly checking what’s under the blue lid and inside curbside recycling carts. This is part of the ongoing cart education and inspection campaign by the Regional District to combat recycling contamination.

Engineering Manager Travis Kendel says they have brought back the Recycling Ambassador Student Program after a delay due to COVID-19. “Our ambassadors will be reaching out to residents through curbside cart checks and education this fall.”

“We understand that sorting waste and recycling can sometimes be confusing. Most residents are doing a pretty good job including only what’s acceptable to put in the carts. But recycling audits show there are still a significant number of unacceptable items going into our recycling stream, especially plastic bags and other plastic films, and that’s a big problem.”

“Things like plastic bags, garbage, books, food waste, garden hoses, electronics, scrap metals, clothing, even yard waste-items that have never been accepted in our curbside recycling program are still showing up and contaminating the recycling stream,” says Kendel.

“If we don’t significantly reduce and eliminate these unacceptable products from our recycling loads, we face financial penalties from Recycle BC. We need to do a better job and that requires continuous education and monitoring.”

Kendel says the recycling ambassadors will have a quick look at the contents in recycling carts, and if they find items that don’t belong they’ll leave information explaining what went wrong. In some cases, if there is significant contamination, carts won’t be picked up until the offending material is removed.

Here are some of the items ambassadors will be looking for:

• Garbage
  • Garden hoses, landscape edging and tarps
  • Paper towels and tissues
  • Non-packaging plastics such as toys, Tupperware type containers, laundry baskets
• Items recyclable at depots and other locations (but not in the cart)
  • Plastic bags including bagged recyclables
  • Styrofoam
  • Glass
  • Soft plastics such as cling wrap, bubble wrap, chip and snack bags, zipper bags
  • Electronics and small appliances
  • Textiles such as clothes, fabric and pillows
  • Soft cover novels and hard cover books and textbooks
• Hazardous waste
  • Hazards such as syringes, propane tanks, oil jugs

In 2019 the Regional District inspected over 12,500 recycling carts and sent approximately 2,500 letters to residents when the wrong materials are found in the recycling, garbage and yard waste carts – to help encourage future compliance.

To find out more about what to recycle in your curbside cart or at a depot, visit rdco.com/recycle, download the free Recycle Coach App, or call the Regional Waste Reduction Office at 250-469-6250.