Chilliwack has been preparing to bring back glass recycling at the curb this spring.
Numerous citizen complaints from residents led to a shift in policy by council to reinstate curbside glass recycling.
The goal is to do that this spring and still avoid cross-contamination in the waste stream.
Council approved the Thunderbird Plastics bid proposal to supply 30,000 grey recycling tubs to curbside collection customers at the last meeting. The substantiation in the staff report stated the firm Thunderbird “has a proven track record of supplying durable curbside recycling containers that will meet the needs of the City’s collection program.”
Mayor Ken Popove said he advocated for bringing back curbside glass recycling after he was contacted by citizens who said they wanted to recycle glass jars but they couldn’t manage to get it to the depots.
“That was a big thing for me,” Popove said.
The grey tubs will be 27L containers.
Coun. Jason Lum said he understood there were people with mobility or transportation issues, or those without storage room for glass in their homes. But glass needs to be separate from other recycling to avoid cross-contamination.
“I get it,” he said, about people who were upset. “All of council understood that as well, and wanted to work with staff to come up with a solution to bring glass recycling back.”
Implementation is targeted for spring of 2019, at a cost of $118,200, before taxes.
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