Contaminants among recycling is increasing in Nanaimo. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW

By Alex Rawnsley

BLUE BIN BOTHER

Recycling contaminants trend up in Nanaimo, well above provincial goals

Jul 6, 2021 | 12:24 PM

NANAIMO — The Harbour City’s quest to become more green is being thwarted by a blue bin.

Data collected by Recycle BC over the last two years in Nanaimo showed levels of improperly recycled materials and unrecyclable materials finding their way into the curbside blue recycling bins is increasing.

Taaj Daliran, city manager of sanitation and recycling, told Council on Monday, July 6 there is still a great deal of confusion about recycling.

“Some of this contamination is not actually contamination, it’s just mis-recycling. For example, some materials that are supposed to be taken to depots are put in our blue carts.”

Other issues include non-recycleable items being placed in the blue bins, including food stuck to containers

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Recycle BC sets a goal of three per cent contamination, with Nanaimo’s rate steadily increasing since 2018. Nanaimo is hardly an outlier, as Daliran said he’s not aware of any municipality meeting the goal and several others are significantly higher than local rates.

Audits of Nanaimo’s recycling stream shows growing levels of contaminants being collected by the automated system. (City of Nanaimo)

“We are trying our best to reach that target of three per cent,” Daliran said. “When it comes to food contamination, we recommend to our residents to rinse just once, don’t put it in the washer as that creates more challenges and uses more energy.”

The growth in contamination numbers is also tied to the growth of automated recycling in the city.

More trucks are continuously needed to cater to a growing, sprawling city. Council has given the green light to two new trucks in recent years, with one going into service in September 2020 and the second due in Nanaimo by next spring.

While the automated system offers many conveniences, it doesn’t drastically aid in lowering the contamination rate.

“In the manual system, collectors open the cans and check visually before they lift. In automated program, we lift first and as they’re dumped into the hopper our operator monitors those through the cameras and at that point they tag them, but they’ve already collected most of the items.”

The City is due to formulate a plan to turn the tide of recycling contamination and bring the level of unacceptable materials down from eight per cent to three.

Plastics are the main target, including the recently banned grocery bags and flexible plastic containers.

The federal government is also due to introduce new bans on some materials by the end of 2021, which will help determine any additional steps the City will take.

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alex.rawnsley@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley