Re: B.C.’s new recycling program
The powers of local government have determined that it is in their budgetary interests to receive monies from distant corporations for the costs of recycling.
Perhaps it should be pointed out that garbage disposal is the responsibility of our local government, and never have I heard that the local taxpayer will be receiving a tax reduction, even though each taxpayer is now responsible for the direct disposal of drywall, paint, pesticides, batteries, electronics, appliances, mattresses, light bulbs and glass, just to name a few. It appears each and every homeowner will now be required to carry a Transport of Dangerous Goods certificate every time they visit a hardware store.
In the good old days, a five-cent recycling fee meant that we would receive five cents upon returning a pop can. Now that each and every product has an environmental fee attached to every purchase, one wonders where is the incentive to return products to a specialized depot when it will cost us time and money, with no incentive.
Our local government officials have deemed many products to be hazardous to our landfills, yet with no incentive to return, the horrible truth is that our ditches and isolated sites become dumping grounds for these hazardous wastes.
I note a recent article has our city operations manager suggesting that a one-per-cent allowance of glass in our garbage is okay. Not sure what WCB’s safe work tolerance would say about that, but as long as glass is no longer accepted in the recycling or garbage, I suspect more of us will be finding broken glass in the streets of Surrey.
Parents, watch out for your kids’ safety, and city council, how can so many great minds lack such common sense?
John Millar
