Diapers, glass, needles, knives, food waste found in recycling bins: RDCO
Global News
In recent months, there have been so many contaminants found in recycling bins that RecycleBC has imposed hefty fines within the regional district.
The Regional District of Central Okanagan has issued a reminder to residents to think twice before putting anything in their curbside recycling bins.
“Don’t just put it in your recycle bin because you think it might be recyclable,” said Travis Kendel, RDCO engineering services manager. “Chances are you think it might be recyclable, but it probably isn’t recyclable.”
In recent months, there have been so many contaminants found in recycling bins, Recycle BC has imposed hefty fines within the regional district.
“RecycleBC has been very lenient,” Kendel said. ” We’ve been putting in our best effort for the last few years to really get our contamination levels down and unfortunately, we haven’t seen the increase in performance that we would like to. Recycle BC, they’re starting to crack down on us”
In the last quarter of 2022, a total of $55,000 in penalties were applied to the City of Kelowna and the City of West Kelowna.
“Every time audits are done and RecycleBC finds contaminants that don’t belong there, it’s a $5,000 fine for every truck that’s contaminated,” Kendel told Global News.
At the Cascades recycling plant in Kelowna, staff have to sort recyclable items from the contaminants they see far too often.
“Feminine hygiene products, we get a lot of diapers, adult diapers, glass is still a huge contamination … needles on a regular basis, knives, more and more knives, sharp objects. A lot of unfortunate things like food waste food,” said Steve Fast, production supervisor with Cascades.