The City of Nanaimo is getting tough on recyclers who go rogue.
People are stuffing their curbside collectors with contraband items that can’t be recycled and it’s causing contamination levels to soar.
“It’s the cost of sorting this stuff out. I mean, all the equipment costs a lot of money, the labour costs a lot of money,” said Nick Howniet, plant manager at Progressive Waste Solutions.
Items like plastic bags, styrofoam, glass and wood end up at the plant.
Workers say items could get entangled in machinery and even spark a fire.
In the end, negligent recyclers are wasting taxpayer dollars.
Contamination rates in what’s picked up at the curb have jumped as high as 14 per cent.
Multi-Material BC, the company that pays the city to collect recycling, says that levels should be at three per cent.
As a result, the organization could fine the city and taxpayers $120,000 a year.
“The contamination can mean when it’s so high, it can mean that whole loads of recycling need to be landfilled,” said Charlotte Davis, a manager at Nanaimo Sanitation and Recycling.
Throughout the month of November city inspectors will sift through people’s recycling and will leave warning notices to those not in compliance.
“The second time around, so the next collection, if there is contamination in there again, we’re actually just going to leave the whole bag,” Davis said.
