Education Program Underway to Reduce Contamination in Chilliwack Curbside Recycling

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 13, 2021

Chilliwack, BC: The City of Chilliwack is asking residents to double-check what they are putting in their curbside recycling. Contamination rates in curbside recycling are too high in Chilliwack, which negatively impacts the recycling process. To assist residents with the curbside recycling program, the City has developed a Contamination Remediation Plan in consultation with Recycle BC.

Recycle BC is the province-wide stewardship organization responsible for residential packaging and paper recycling in BC. Contamination in recycling hinders the sorting of materials, and lowers the potential for the materials to be recycled. Keeping non-recyclable and recycling depot materials out of curbside recycling will ensure acceptable items can be recycled into quality products.

“We know a lot of residents are passionate about recycling and want to keep as much out of the landfill as possible, but to do that we all need to make sure we are putting the right materials in our blue bins,” said Mayor Popove. “The City has several helpful tools that residents can use when they aren’t sure what goes where, including our Curbside Collection App.”

Residents can download the free Chilliwack Curbside Collection App to their smartphones, or use the Waste Wizard and Sorting Guide found on the City’s website to ensure what they are placing in their recycling bin is correct. Hard copies of the sorting guide can also be mailed out to residents upon request.

The City’s curbside collection contractor, Emterra Environmental, is leaving educational tags on non-compliant recycling bins so residents can correct any issues before the next collection.  City staff are also performing random audits and educational tagging of curbside materials.

Accepted items that can go in the City of Chilliwack’s blue bins:

• Paper products and packaging (e.g. newspapers and flyers, loose leaf paper, magazines, emptied paper cups and drink holders, paper food bags)
• Cardboard and boxboard
• Rigid plastic packaging (e.g. milk jugs, clamshell packaging, plastic cups, plastic plant pots, dispenser bottles, plastic trays)
• Metal containers and packaging (e.g. aluminum cans and lids, aluminum foils, metal containers, soup cans)

Please remember that all cups and food containers need to be emptied and rinsed.

Not accepted items:

• Soft and stretchy plastic bags (e.g. shopping bags) and overwrap
• Foam packaging (e.g. Styrofoam)
• Other flexible plastic packaging (e.g. chip bags, zipper lock bags)
• Hazardous materials (e.g. sharp items, gas canisters, batteries, etc.)
• Personal hygiene products (e.g. face masks, paper towels, tissues)
• Scrap metal (e.g. pots/pans)
• Small electronics (e.g. toasters, blenders, etc.)
• Clothing
• Books
• Tupperware containers
• Rigid plastic products (e.g. toys, car seats, chairs, etc.)
• Glass bottles, dishes, window glass or ceramics (glass bottles and jars go in the grey bin, other types of glass go in the garbage)

Although curbside recycling is convenient, it is not feasible for all recyclable items to be collected curbside because some items can’t be easily sorted at the recycling facilities or they contain hazardous materials that require special handling. Items such as plastic bags, foam packaging, batteries, light bulbs and electronics are accepted for recycling at drop-off depots.

For more information, residents can visit chilliwack.com/curbside or contact the City’s Curbside line at curbside@chilliwack.com or 604.793.2787.

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