Curbside recycling inspections begin this week

NEWS RELEASE - Distributed May 31, 2023 2:30 PM

Summary

Beginning Friday, June 2, trained City of Nanaimo staff will begin performing blue cart inspections on collection days as part of the City’s ongoing efforts to reduce recycling contamination.

As the City continues to educate residents on how to Recycle Right, trained cart inspectors will be reviewing cart contents to ensure that only acceptable materials are being put in the recycling carts. This latest measure is part of an ongoing program aimed to reduce recycling contamination in Nanaimo’s curbside recycling program, as mandated by Recycle BC.

Recycle BC is the not-for-profit organization responsible for residential packaging and paper product recycling throughout British Columbia. Due to high contamination rates in previous years, the City developed a formal Contamination Remediation Plan (CRP) for it’s curbside collection program. Last year’s CRP focused on education. This year, the City continues to educate residents and will begin enforcing appropriate use of the curbside collection program through inspections.

Inspectors will be identifiable as city employees, wearing high visibility vests. Using a litter-picking tool and puncture-proof gloves, inspectors will be viewing cart contents to identify contamination and also recognize and applaud those residents who are following curbside collection guidelines. Contaminants will be recorded using a handheld scanner and tags will be attached to each cart. If unacceptable materials are found in the cart, a red cart tag will be attached and the cart will NOT be collected. Education materials will be left at the homes for residents to review.

Link to Strategic Plan: N/A

Key Points

Recycle BC audit results have identified an increasing trend of high contamination rates in Nanaimo's curbside recycling program.
A Contamination Remediation Plan (CRP) will help the community achieve the target rate of no more than 5.52 per cent of unacceptable materials.
Failure to bring the City's contamination rates into compliance could lead to fines, which in turn leads to increased service fees.
Download the free Nanaimo Recycles app or visit our website and use the What Goes Where tool if you need help deciding if an item belongs in your blue cart.

Quotes

"We are confident that Nanaimo residents will step up and help us reduce the amount of contamination being found in curbside recycling. These inspections will help us identify areas for improvement and serve as a reminder of why it is so important to recycle right."

Leonard Krog

Mayor

City of Nanaimo

Videos

Recycling vs. Wishcycling: Understanding the Blue Cart

Contact:

For media enquiries, please contact

Communications

City of Nanaimo

Media.Requests@nanaimo.ca

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