Beginning June 1, all Powell River Regional District recycling depots will start collecting a new category of materials called Other Flex Plastic Packaging.
Recycle BC, the non-profit responsible for much of our local recycling, is conducting a pilot project for the collection of this new category, which includes a lot of the packaging previously turned away, such as:
• Stand-up plastic pouches (frozen blueberries, baby food, hand-soap refills and juice, et cetera)
• Crinkly wrappers and bags (candy wrappers, cereal bags, cellophane for flowers and cheese-slice wrappers, et cetera)
• Flexible packaging with plastic seals (fresh pasta packaging, prepackaged deli meat, prepackaged cheese and ziplock bags, cetera)
• Woven and net plastic bags (mesh bags for avocados and oranges, and woven bags for rice, et cetera)
• Non-food protective packaging (bubble wrap, plastic shipping envelopes and plastic air packets, et cetera)
Recycle BC had not been accepting these types of flexible plastics at depots because they are not yet recyclable, being made of layers of multiple types of materials such as paper, foil and different kinds of plastic.
Recycle BC will be collecting these hard-to-recycle materials as a research and development project, in partnership with GBN and Merlin Plastics, that will seek to develop technology that will, over time, enable the recycling of some, if not all, of the materials categorized as Other Flexible Plastic Packaging.
Once sufficient amounts of Other Flexible Plastic Packaging have been collected, Merlin Plastics will be able to perform full-scale trial runs to test the recyclability of this material. The goal is to recover as much plastic resin as possible for manufacturers to use as feedstock for new plastic products.
Any material not capable of being recycled will be marketed as engineered fuel. Recycle BC expects the amount of materials sent to engineered fuel to decrease as the technology is tested, refined and the resulting material is marketed to manufacturers as feedstock for new products.
Engineered fuel is an energy product engineered to exact specifications to produce a fuel that is a direct replacement for traditional non-renewable resources, such as coal. Let’s Talk Trash wants to be transparent about the destination for this new collection stream and remind people that even though it may feel good to finally have a “home” for that potato-chip bag, reducing our consumption of resources and choosing to reuse rather than favouring disposable goods is even more planet friendly.
While this addition to your recycling options may change the size of your garbage bag, it is not the ultimate answer. Anyone who cannot avoid plastic packaging should be sure to keep it from the garbage can. Instead, bring it to any depot and ask depot staff to walk through the complex game of “what bin should this go in?”
Let’s Talk Trash is Powell River Regional District’s waste-reduction education program. Find out more at [email protected].
