VIDEO – Changes to the way recycling is handled in Powell River may mean less trash for pickup, but a little more inconvenience for those who use the region’s green bins.
Multi Material BC (MMBC), a funded not-for-profit, industry-led organization, will take over collection of product packaging and printed paper for recycling in the province starting May 19. The change was part of the provincial government’s 2011 update on its recycling regulations to include packaging and printed paper. It creates an extended producer responsibility program which shifts the costs for recycling from municipal governments and taxpayers to industry and consumers.
This change has implications for not only consumers, who are also taxpayers, but also for businesses and municipal governments.
Municipal governments have been offered three options to implement the government’s plans to increase the amount of recycling. MMBC has made collection agreements with more than 150 BC communities and other collectors, which cover 1.25 million households across the province.
They can opt to keep their own curbside collection systems and have MMBC pay for the material collection, cities can hand the whole responsibility for collection over to MMBC or they could leave it at status quo and look at signing up at a later point, said Tor Birtig, director of infrastructure for the City of Powell River.
The city has yet to sign an agreement, opting to leave things running the same, collecting curbside recycling and delivering it to an MMBC transfer station.
This change will mean an expansion of the materials it can currently accept to include milk cartons, polystyrene foam, plastic film, aerosol containers, hot and cold drink cups and plant pots among others.
Birtig said the city had concerns about MMBC’s standards around per capita quotas of recycled materials which would require municipal governments to provide public education programs if they were not met. He added that some leeway would be given while cities work up to the quotas.
“Currently we are at status quo because we wanted to go over the terms of the agreement,” said Birtig, adding that the city was also concerned about the penalties for submitting contaminated materials under the agreement.
Birtig said that the city would look again at signing a contract with MMBC next year.
Powell River Regional District (PRRD) has signed an agreement to operate rural recycling depots.
It has yet to be determined which local companies will be involved, though both Sunshine Disposal & Recycling and Augusta Recyclers Inc. have filed bids to conduct services.
One key change to the recycling landscape in Powell River is that the green bin program, operated by Sunshine Disposal on contract with PRRD, will shut down.
Daryl and Marie McCormack have had the contract for the past 24 years and are nervous about what the changes could mean for their business.
“It’s going to look completely different,” said Daryl.
The waste disposal and recycling company currently has its green bins throughout Powell River: one at Black Point, two at Town Centre Mall, one at Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation and two on Texada Island.
Sunshine Disposal has submitted a bid to MMBC to run the rural depots throughout the PRRD.
In the proposal, Daryl said that he hopes his company is able to operate MMBC’s secure rural recycling depots in Lund, Tla’amin, Black Point and on Texada.
He anticipates that he will be laying off employees because of the change, though he expects to have a better idea of how things are going to go in a few weeks. Maintaining the green bins provides approximately 160 hours of work for his employees each month, he said.
“The two [bins] in town are going to be gone for sure,” said Daryl adding that the city has curbside pickup and MMBC will be handling the recycling in the regional district.
The adjacent cardboard bins will also be removed over fears that people will fill them with household recycling. Daryl added it is an already fairly common practice for people to use the cardboard bins for anything they want to dispose of, including construction waste and other items for which there is a charge to dispose of at the waste transfer site. That costs Sunshine Disposal money to dispose of correctly.
Marie said that the two bins at the Town Centre Mall are among the busiest of the sites.
BC Chamber of Commerce called the program “a one-size-fits-all approach to recycling.” The Canadian Federation of Independent Business awarded the program, along with the federal Temporary Foreign Worker program, its paperweight award for initiatives that add government red tape and make the business environment more challenging.
In response to concerns from small business, last month MMBC announced exemptions for businesses that have annual revenues of less than $1 million, produce less than one tonne of packaging and printed paper per year or operate from a single location and are not part of a franchise or chain.
According to data from the provincial government between 2,000 and 3,000 businesses out of 385,000 will be required to participate in the program.
Under the program, companies that put packaging into customers’ hands will have to pay a fee based on the volume of packaging they produce. Those costs in turn will be passed down to consumers as recycling surcharges.
Almost half of product packaging is recycled, but the provincial government would like to see that number raised to 75 per cent.
Resident Heather Baldwin uses the green bins at the mall.
“This is a lot more convenient,” she said. “Some people may not want to or be able to go south of town for recycling.” She believes the change could affect seniors most who are less likely to drive.
The bins at the mall were originally placed there to serve residents living in the apartments in the area who may not have established recycling programs inside their buildings.
Other city residents said they were satisfied with the change and did not think that having to go to a transfer station would cause many problems. One resident said he hoped changes would create more recycling jobs.
.jpg;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)