Recycling Council of BC Archives - Green Coast Rubbish

As Metro Vancouver moves toward the goal of recycling 80% of the region’s waste by 2020, new rules are being implemented to divert green waste from the garbage including the organics disposal ban we talked about last week as well as a new clean wood disposal ban effective January 1, 2015.

What is Clean Wood?
For the purposes of the ban, clean wood includes solid wood, lumber and pallets that are unpainted, unstained, untreated and glue free. It’s okay if the wood contains nails, screws, staples or other metal fasteners.

Important Dates and Phases
The first 6 months of the ban -January 1 to June 30, 2015 – will focus on educating customers at all regional facilities including transfer stations and landfills about the clean wood disposal ban. As of July 1, 2015, loads of garbage containing over 10% clean wood will be subject to a 50% surcharge.

Recycle it or Pay the Price
You’ll save money and the environment by recycling clean wood:
1. Recycled clean wood can be used for composting, landscaping mulch or alternative industrial fuel.
2. The fee to recycle clean wood at a Metro Vancouver facility costs less than the garbage disposal fee, not to mention having to pay the price of the 50% surcharges as of July 1.

Why we Like It
Green Coast Rubbish is fully on board with the ban and is already recycling clean wood products as part of its every day operations. In 2013, Green Coast Rubbish composted 30.39 tonnes of clean wood and organic material.

Eamonn Duignan, President of Green Coast Rubbish explains, “It is encouraging to see clean wood being banned from Metro Vancouver facilities, especially when this material can be easily be composted or recycled. As material recovery options increase and become more economical viable within our region, we hope to see an outright ban of all wood products in the not so distant future.”

Who to Contact
For more information on the clean wood disposal ban, call the Recycling Council of BC’s Recycling Hotline at 604-RECYCLE (604-732-9253) or contact your local municipality.

Recycling food scraps is routine for many Metro Vancouver residents and businesses. However, the new organics disposal ban in effect as of January 1, 2015 now requires all households, businesses, and institutions to separate food waste from their garbage.

Why the ban? You may be surprised to learn that almost a third of the food we buy ends up in the garbage, amounting to 40% of residential garbage in the landfill. This slowly decaying food creates methane gas which is known to cause global warming.

While the majority of single family homes in Metro Vancouver are already recycling food and garden waste, the organics disposal ban will ensure that residential buildings (such as apartments and condos) are starting food scrap recycling programs if they haven’t already done so. Another major focus for the ban this year is to ensure that large restaurants and grocery stores are diverting organics from their garbage.

In summary, all residents, businesses and institutions are being asked to introduce food scraps recycling programs this year to meet the regional goals of recycling 70% of the waste in Metro Vancouver in 2015 and 80% by 2020.

Important Dates and Phases
The organics disposal ban is being introduced in stages over the coming months and includes an educational focus for the first 6 months, followed by the implementation of financial penalties in the latter half of 2015 as follows:

What Items are Banned?

Food scraps recycling programs should include the following items which are now banned from the garbage:
• Vegetables and fruits
• Raw food, plate scrapings, leftovers
• Packaged foods (remove packaging)
• Meats, fish, bones and seafood shells
• Pasta, bread and rice
• Dairy, eggshells, sauces, dressings
• Paper egg cartons
• Paper towels, unlined paper cups/plates
• Food-soiled napkins/pizza boxes/newspaper
• Kraft/paper bags used to collect food scraps
• Waxed cardboard boxes
• Coffee grounds/filters and tea bags
• Wooden utensils, chopsticks, stir sticks, and toothpicks

Resources
For more information on the organics disposal ban, check out the following links:

The Recycling Council of BC is available to answer questions and provides information on food scraps recycling programs and contacts for commercial and multi-family dwelling organics pick-up services. Call 604-RECYCLE (604-732-9253).

Metro Vancouver Organics Ban: Overview

Businesses: Q&A on Metro Vancouver’s Organics Disposal Ban

Restaurants : Tools and Resources, Case Studies, Frequently Asked Questions, Tips, Signage & Artwork

Grocers: Tools and Resources, Case Studies, Frequently Asked Questions, Tips, Signage & Artwork

Apartments & Condos: Tools and Resources, Case Studies, Frequently Asked Questions, Tips, Signage and Artwork

Residents: Tools and Resources, Case Studies, Frequently Asked Questions, Tips and Posters