Where does garbage go?

Photo: Contributed

Reports that indicate some materials meant for Recycle BC are finding their way into B.C. landfills appear to be false.

Lyndsey Chauhan, with Recycle BC, tells Castanet that as of Jan. 1, China is enforcing its new “National Sword” policy, which bans 24 types of solid waste, including various plastics and unsorted mixed papers, and sets a much tougher standard for contamination levels.

China notified the World Trade Organization about the ban in July 2017, essentially saying the country would no longer act as the world’s trash dump. China consumes 55 per cent of the world’s scrap paper and is a major destination for other recyclables as well.

"It was really strict guidelines imposed and that basically eliminated an end market for our paper," says Chauhan.

But since that time, Chauhan says Recycle BC has found replacement markets for the "so-called" contaminated paper products.

"When one of your biggest end markets basically closes its doors to the rest of the world, it creates a lot of material that is looking for new homes and these other end markets are looking for the cleanest products they can find. Right now B.C. isn't bad, but we are being compared to the rest of the world in terms of contamination, so we could always do better."

That is one reason you might find a ticket from the Central Okanagan Regional District on one of your bins. People who don't comply with recycling protocols will be warned, or even fined.

RDCO spokesperson David Komaike says waste audits show there’s still significant contamination of the recycling stream.

“If we don’t significantly reduce and eliminate these unacceptable products from our loads, we face financial penalties from our contractor, Recycle BC. We’re close to 15 per cent contamination on average, and it needs to be three per cent or less.”

Chauhan says the biggest culprit are single-use plastic bags.

"If it's a paper bail, they just want paper. For example, in communities like Kelowna, if it winds up in the paper bin, it behaves just like paper and that's a real problem on the sorting table, so it often winds up in the same place as the paper that has become a big issue for all recyclers."

The regional district inspects about 3,500 recycling carts each year, and sends an average of 2,500 letters to residents when the wrong materials are found.