I am writing in response to recent letters regarding recycling of plastic bags and overwrap and foam packaging in Vernon and the Regional District of North Okanagan.
One of MMBC's primary mandates is to ensure that residential packaging materials collected curbside, from multi-family buildings and at depots achieves a positive outcome. We want to maximize recyclability, and ensure these materials can be sold to end markets, rather than end up landfilled. To that end, we closely track and audit recycling outcomes, and report this data publicly. This level of accountability and transparency is new to B.C.
Plastic bags and overwrap, and foam packaging are materials that are difficult to properly collect and recycle at the curb. Foam packaging breaks easily, mixing with other recyclables, and takes up a large amount of space on recycling collection trucks making it inefficient to include in curbside programs.
They are also materials that are very difficult to process if they are commingled with other recyclables. Plastic bags and overwrap require special handling and manual sorting. Bags and other soft plastics that are mixed with other recycling can become tangled with containers, preventing both the bags and other recyclables from being recycled; and they can wrap around sorting machinery, causing delays or injury.
In addition, only certain plastic bags and overwrap, and foam packaging, can be recycled in a way that meets MMBC's strict end-market environmental standards. Depot staff are able to help ensure that only plastic and foam packaging that can be recycled by end-markets in B.C. are sent for recycling, and that the bags are free of food, soil or other contaminants.
We appreciate the concerns around CO2 emissions created from driving to depots, and the difficulties that seniors or others may face. To that end, we strongly encourage residents who wish to recycle these items to combine depot trips with other weekly errands, such as grocery shopping.
Allen Langdon,
Managing Director,
Multi-Material B.C.