Recycling B.C. has given the green light for dozens of new single-use items to go into blue boxes.
The blue-box list includes aluminum foil, pie plates and baking dishes, paper party decor like hats and pinatas, plastic plates, cups and straws and food containers.
Recycling depots across the province will also now take plastic sandwich and freezer bags, bubble wrap and plastic shopping bags among other items, although they still can’t go into blue boxes.
Previously, only plastic, metal, glass packaging and paper products were included in the Recycle B.C. program.
“This expanded materials list will allow more material to be recycled, keep it out of landfills and stop it from littering the environment,” said Tamara Burns, executive director of Recycle B.C.
The Environment Ministry said single-use plastics are one of the most common items found littering B.C. shores.
A federal ban on the manufacturing and importing of single-use plastics came into effect on Dec. 20. B.C.’s changes cover a broader category of single-use products, ensuring that exemptions to the ban are recycled, the ministry said.
B.C. regulates the largest number of residential packaging and products in Canada through its extended producer responsibility programs, where companies and producers are responsible for the collection and recycling of the products they create. The ministry said the program encourages companies and producers to create and design less harmful plastic packaging.
During the next four years, the province plans to expand extended producer responsibility programs to include mattresses, electric-vehicle batteries and medical sharps (syringes, lancets), as well as more moderately hazardous products, such as compressed-fuel canisters.
Examples of newly accepted items include:
Blue Box recyclable with paper:
Paper party décor (paper decorations, signs, hats, tablecloths, pinatas)
Paper gift bags and boxes
Paper lunch bags
Cardboard moving, filing boxes
Blue Box recyclable with containers
Plastic plates, bowls and cups
Paper plates, bowls and cups (with thin plastic lining)
Plastic food storage containers
Plastic cutlery and straws
Plastic hangers (that come with clothing)
Aluminum foil wrap
Aluminum foil baking dishes and pie plates
Metal storage tins (thin gauge)
Depot recyclable with flexible plastics
Plastic sandwich and freezer bags
Plastic shrink wrap
Flexible plastic drop sheets and covering
Flexible plastic bubble wrap (no bubble wrap-lined paper)
Flexible plastic recycling bags (blue, clear bags, or yellow or blue bags used for curbside collection)
Flexible plastic carryout shopping bags (reusable)
