While efforts to educate Nanaimo residents on what is allowed in the blue recycling bins have been successful, the City wants to see more items diverted from the landfill. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

blue bin

Contaminated recyclables down in Nanaimo, while items going to the landfill remain high

Sep 23, 2024 | 5:26 AM

NANAIMO — A concerted effort to educate locals about what can be recycled has been successful in Nanaimo, but there are still far too many items ending up in the landfill.

In 2021, Recycle BC told the City of Nanaimo their levels of improperly recycled materials in the blue bins were too high, with the City then launching a campaign to educate locals about correct recycling habits.

Acting sanitation manager Dave Thompson said those efforts have been mostly successful, running for the last two years from May until the end of August.

“A plan that included education, curb-side inspections and a number of other programs to try and get that contamination rate back down to where we wanted it to be. In 2023, our efforts were successful to the point where Recycle BC actually notified us that our remediation plan was no longer required. We didn’t quite hit the target levels but we were very close.”

He said over 90 per cent of the 31,000 residential homes serviced by the City’s blue bin program were inspected at least once this summer.

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Of those, 3,600 received a yellow tag containing information on why materials were not in the proper bin, while 429 homes were refused collection service.

Thompson said their curbside inspectors went a long way, with staff roaming the streets and connecting residents with information on proper recycling.

He said one of the primary issues they heard, was confusion on what can be put into the blue bin and what items need to be taken to the recycling depot, with the province expanding blue-bin friendly single-use plastics in early 2023.

“That’s definitely something that we’re trying to standardize. When we talk about flexible plastics, that includes film plastic like your saran wrap, it includes Ziploc bags, it includes dog food bags, chip bags, coffee bags, plastic overwrap. It’s a very, very big category, and all of those materials are accepted at the depot for recycling. They’re are recyclable, just not in the curbside program.”

According to a recent report from the Stewardship Agency of BC, approximately 425 million kilograms of products were diverted from the landfill in 2023, saying B.C. residents recycled more items like beverage containers, batteries, and large appliances than ever before.

Thompson the COVID-19 pandemic caused a major shift in resident’s waste and recycling habits, with a huge increase in online shopping and the “convenience economy”.

In turn, it has caused an increase in the number of items being thrown into the Nanaimo regional landfill, compared to pre-pandemic levels.

“More garbage is going to the landfill, and I think we’ve set some goals as a City to one, increase the diversion rate, but number two is to decrease the overall generation of waste within your household, whether it’s your recycling whether it’s your garbage, and those things are really linked to consumer behaviour.”

He said another common misconception was around paper materials soiled with food stains like used paper towels or greasy pizza boxes, which should be tossed in the green organics bin.

The city plans to continue the curbside inspection program next summer.

More information on the City of Nanaimo’s recycling programs can be found here.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow