The District of Squamish says curbside recycling totes in all neighbourhoods will be subject to a ‘brief visual inspection’ in July.

In partnership with Squamish CAN (Climate Action Network) and Green For Life (Carney’s Waste Systems) the curbside checks are aimed at helping improve individual recycling efforts, identifying common mistakes and keeping recycling contamination under control.

Jenner Stoner, a member of the Squamish Climare Action Network’s Board of Directors says Recycle BC’s target is a contamination rate of 3% or less, and that Squamish is currently averaging around 30%; “…relative to that kind of provincial average set out by Recycle BC we’re higher than what they would like us to be at”.

Auditors will conduct a brief visual inspection of totes during the weeks of July 16th and July 30th. Residents will receive a Recycling Champion sticker, or a door hanger with tips on what goes where. No items will be handled or removed.

A further two weeks of checks will take place in September to see if there has been any changes or progression in the levels of contamination rates. Squamish CAN will then use the data to see what are the biggest concerns around contamination and what are the most common materials. “Then we’re going to do a series of outreach events after that, in the late part of this year, early part of next year to try and educate our residents on, kind of, the biggest contaminating issues” says Stoner.

 

Filed under: District of Squamish, Green For Life, Recycling, Sea to Sky, Squamish