The City of Penticton is launching an education campaign to help clear up confusions about what can – and can’t – be placed in recycling. The goal is to lower the community’s recycling contamination rate of 7.8 per cent to 4.5 per cent by year-end, falling in line with RecycleBC requirements.
“As a community, we’re doing a great job overall with sorting our recycling, and by raising awareness of some common items that can cause contamination, we hope to boost that success rate even higher,” said the city’s community sustainability coordinator David Kassian. “This is good for the environment, diverts recyclable material out of the landfill and it keeps costs down.”
The campaign will target both residents and visitors, with updated brochures and educational materials for single and multi-family residents, including Airbnb businesses. If you’re part of a group, strata or multi-family development that would like to pick up the new materials, email publicworks@penticton.ca for further information.
The educational campaign will also include local print advertising and social media to help clarify common recycling confusions. Random checks of curbside carts will be conducted in the coming months to provide residents with tips and information so they can sort even better.
Want to improve your sorting success? Here are the top offenders found in Penticton’s recycling carts. Residents are reminded to keep these items out of recycling:
- Unaccepted material including books, scrap metal, electronics, ceramics, household hazardous waste
- Unsortable material, which means materials contained inside bags or different types of containers nested together
- Glass
- Plastic bags and overwrap
- Other flexible plastic packaging
-Accepted material containing residue, which includes containers with food inside like used pizza boxes
- Foam packaging
If you’re not sure where your item goes, try the Recycling Wizard tool at penticton.ca/recycling or call the Recycling Hotline at 1-800-557-4321.