At the end of September, CBC’s Marketplace aired a story exposing the challenges related to plastics recycling in British Columbia.
As a result of the report, a number of residents have contacted the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) for reassurance on the processing of recycling in the region. The TNRD partners with Recycle BC to deliver the residential recycling program at TNRD landfills, transfer stations, and Eco-Depot locations.
A statement issued by Recycle BC reassures the public about continuing to make use of the Recycle BC programs, which include the TNRD programs.
“We believe Recycle BC is a leading example for the responsible management of residential recycling and we believe the facts speak for themselves. We know there is more work to be done and we are committed to continuously improving. But the single most important fact is, British Columbians can feel secure that when they put accepted plastic packaging in their residential recycling, we will manage it properly.”
Recycle BC states that this province has the most advanced and integrated processes for the management of residential recycling of anywhere in Canada.
“We do [audits] to continuously improve our quality to ensure we can access end markets that will recycle our materials. We track the end market destination for our collected materials through a chain of custody process.
“Our process demands full traceability and auditability of all shipments to end markets or disposal, using documentation to verify where materials are shipped from and where they are sent.” it reads.
Recycle BC is also disturbed by the Marketplace report and its potential impact in B.C.
“We are deeply concerned with Marketplace‘s juxtaposition of three simple commercial transactions as a proxy for the sophisticated system of checks and balances that exist within BC’s residential recycling system,” it reads. “The stakes could not be higher—the world is faced with a global plastics crisis—and this misleading report could erode faith in a system that is producing the best environmental outcomes in Canada, which is a disservice to the people of B.C, Canada, and the world.”
To read the entire Recycle BC statement, please go to the link on their website at https://recyclebc.ca/response-marketplace.
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