The Township of Spallumcheen is recycling its recycling program.
After staying with the blue bag program through Tip It Waste Solutions for the past several years, township council voted unanimously to go with the Recycle BC program (previously known as Multi-Material BC) and its blue bins starting in 2019.
“A single-stream recycling program, such as the blue bag, usually has a high amount of contamination compared to a multi-stream recycling program with bins,” said Tyler McNeill, the township’s deputy manager of operations in a report to council.
“A multi-stream program will reduce the amount of contaminated material that ends up in the landfill.”
With Tip-It, the costs associated with the blue bag program is just shy of $121,000 per year. The material is picked up bi-weekly and taken to a processing facility in Kelowna. Whether the township undergoes partial or full incorporation of Recycle BC’s system — both of which would take about 18 months to transition — Recycle BC does not charge for their services, picks up bi-weekly and takes to a processing facility in Vernon.
“Partial incorporation into the program would require us to hire a trucking contractor such as Tip-It, and an agreement would be made with Recycle BC to provide payment to Spallumcheen for the contractor,” said McNeill.
Both programs provide services for packaging and printed paper, but the level of contamination is greatly reduced when using a multi-stream system which reduces the amount of material going to the landfill.
“It is a change, we tried to keep the blue bags going for as long as we could, but we don’t have any other options,” said Coun. Christine Fraser.
“The cost of the blue bag program has gone from $45,000 to $120,000. That $120,000 is now something we can use for other projects in the township.”
To aid with the transformation to a bin system, Recycle BC implements an education strategy.
“They help communicate with local residents in advance while promoting the benefits of their program,” said McNeill. “They also provide calendars, guides, newsletters and bins.”
The township’s application to transition to the multi-stream Recycle BC system must be in by Sept. 1.
“Recycle BC is only interested in working with parties that are willing to commit to the program fully,” said McNeill.
