Single-use plastics slowly dwindling in region’s stores
By Timothy Schafer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Single-use plastics are on the endangered species list in the West Kootenay.
With the federal ban on the manufacturing and importing of single-use plastics — which came into effect Dec. 20, 2022 — the result is the disappearance of plastic bags, straws and cups across the city’s stores, shops and grocery stores.
A few weeks later the City of Nelson brought into play its own version of the ban, with a list of new products accepted for curbside recycling (https://www.nelson.ca/356/Recycling) in the city, including single-use plastics.
With the advent of the federal ban people were able to recycle a wider array of single-use plastic items and packaging products at recycling depots, including the Grohman Narrows transfer station outside of Nelson.
These items include products that are generally disposed of after a single or one-time use, such as plastic sandwich bags or throw-away party cups, bowls and plates.
“Single-use plastics are one of the most common items found on B.C. shores,” noted a document from RecycleBC in December, 2022.
B.C.’s recycling regulatory changes cover a broader category of single-use products and further ensures that exemptions to the ban are recycled.
In addition, B.C. regulates residential packaging and products through its extended producer responsibility programs, where companies and producers are responsible for the collection and recycling of the products they create. This program also promotes and encourages companies and producers to create and design less harmful plastic packaging.
During the next four years, B.C. will expand extended producer responsibility programs to include mattresses, electric-vehicle batteries and medical sharps (e.g., syringes, lancets), as well as more “moderately hazardous products,” such as compressed-fuel canisters.
“Expanded materials list will allow more material to be recycled, keep it out of landfills and stop it from littering the environment,” said RecycleBC executive director Tamara Burns, in a statement. “Residents play a key role in recycling this material by enabling it to be collected — by putting it into their bins or taking materials to a depot.”
In the bin
Accepted recycling items now include:
• plastic plates, bowls and cups;
• plastic cutlery and straws;
• plastic food storage containers;
• plastic hangers (that come with clothing);
• paper plates, bowls and cups (with thin plastic lining);
• aluminum foil;
• aluminum-foil baking dishes and pie plates; and
• metal storage tins (thin gauge).
Source: RecycleBC
Flexibility recommended
Examples of flexible plastics now accepted at depots only:
• 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 curb-side collection); and
• flexible plastic carry-out shopping bags (reusable).
Source: RecycleBC
Also extinct
With single-use plastics disappearing the City also had to make the blue bag program — once used for curbside recycling collection in Nelson — also dissolve with the move toward plastic bins for the curbside recycling program.
The bags became obsolete in the new Recycle BC service agreement in mid 2020 as the province moves towards recycling bins.
Global market conditions required reduced contamination levels — which meant cleaner recycling material appearing at the curb — with Recycle BC imposing penalties on collectors (such as the City of Nelson) that were not able to decrease the contamination in their service to three per cent or less.
The results of three audits taken from December 2015 to Nov 2016 indicated that the average contamination level in the city had been 8.7 per cent, prompting an education campaign in early 2017. Results of a subsequent April 2017 audit indicated that contamination had been reduced to 5.9 per cent.
At the time, the City had the option to make a request to Recycle BC for the permission to collect materials from industrial, commercial and institutional locations — but it would not be able to receive reimbursement for the materials.
