The Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN) has approved a contract extension with the Burns Lake Recycling Depot for 2017 at a total cost of $31,980.
The funding is in support of a proposal by the Recycling Depot for providing recycling services to the public in the Burns Lake area.
Bill Miller, RDBN chair, said the main purpose of the funding is to maintain or increase the level of local recycling services and decrease the amount of waste going into the regional landfills.
According to Chris Beach, owner of the Burns Lake Recycling Depot and Mayor of Burns Lake, the funding supports labour and administration costs to educate the public in using collection programs.
“These programs allow people to recycle, rather than discard, paper and packaging, plastic bags, glass jars, styrofoam, electronics, small appliances and power tools, lightbulbs, light fixtures, batteries, alarms, smoke detectors, thermostats, and paint,” said Beach. “On average, one to two full highway trucks of these materials per week all year long is diverted from the local waste transfer station and recycled into usable products again.”
The funding also supports an industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) paper bin which is provided at the recycling depot to enable local schools and businesses to recycle their paper.
“Currently the larger outdoor paper bin fills up and is switched out four times a year,” explained Beach.
“The Burns Lake depot is one of only two one-stop shops under one roof in the entire regional district,” he added. “In other communities, residents have to drive around to several different locations to drop off recyclable materials.”
The RDBN board has also approved a contract extension with the Nechako Healthy Community Alliance in support of recycling services in the Vanderhoof area at a total cost of $82,455, and a contract extension with the Fraser Lake Bottle Depot in support of recycling services in the Fraser Lake area at a total cost of $50,000.
In addition, the RDBN board has approved a contract extension with the Houston Bottle Depot in support of recycling services in the Houston area at a total cost of $42,232.
During a recent RDBN board meeting, directors talked about an “inconsistency” in the region in regard to levels of service or lack of service in communities because Recycle BC does not have contracts with all communities.
Janine Dougall, RDBN director of environmental services, noted that the RDBN board has directed staff to investigate a region-wide recycling program that can tie into the Recycle BC programs.
