"It's shameful, it's awful. In some instances almost one in three pounds of what goes in a blue box shouldn't be there," says Mark Badger, executive vice-president of Canada Fibers.
Okay Mark, but you know, rather than chastizing people, maybe education is the answer. And possibly improving the technlogy so substances that do not belong in the bins can be neutralized or taken out.
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Many Canadians are recycling wrong, and it's costing us millions
Vancouver, St. John’s keep their bins squeaky clean, but there are trade-offs
Emily Chung · CBC News
Reduce, Reuse and Rethink is a CBC News series about recycling. We're looking at why our communities are at a turning point and exploring ways to recycle better. You can be part of the conversation by joining our Facebook group.
Canadians are throwing too much garbage into their blue bins, sometimes out of laziness or ignorance, but sometimes with the best of intentions. And it's costing recycling programs millions of dollars a year.
Even a few spoonfuls of peanut butter left in a jar can contaminate a tonne of paper and make it unmarketable — destined for the dump. Same for that glob of yogurt left in the bottom of the container.
"It's shameful, it's awful. In some instances almost one in three pounds of what goes in a blue box shouldn't be there," says Mark Badger, executive vice-president of Canada Fibers, which runs 12 plants that sort about 60 per cent of the curbside recycling collected in Ontario.
Contamination is the technical name for non-recyclable material or garbage in the recycling system, from leftover food in containers to non-recyclable plastic packaging to more obvious garbage such as clothing and propane tanks.
Many cities are struggling to clean up their recycling and lower their contamination rates, but the potential solutions also have high costs and trade-offs. In the cities with the dirtiest recycling, Toronto and Edmonton, contamination rates can be upwards of 25 per cent.
Many Canadians are recycling wrong, and it's costing us millions | CBC News
Okay Mark, but you know, rather than chastizing people, maybe education is the answer. And possibly improving the technlogy so substances that do not belong in the bins can be neutralized or taken out.
---
Many Canadians are recycling wrong, and it's costing us millions
Vancouver, St. John’s keep their bins squeaky clean, but there are trade-offs
Emily Chung · CBC News
Reduce, Reuse and Rethink is a CBC News series about recycling. We're looking at why our communities are at a turning point and exploring ways to recycle better. You can be part of the conversation by joining our Facebook group.
Canadians are throwing too much garbage into their blue bins, sometimes out of laziness or ignorance, but sometimes with the best of intentions. And it's costing recycling programs millions of dollars a year.
Even a few spoonfuls of peanut butter left in a jar can contaminate a tonne of paper and make it unmarketable — destined for the dump. Same for that glob of yogurt left in the bottom of the container.
"It's shameful, it's awful. In some instances almost one in three pounds of what goes in a blue box shouldn't be there," says Mark Badger, executive vice-president of Canada Fibers, which runs 12 plants that sort about 60 per cent of the curbside recycling collected in Ontario.
Contamination is the technical name for non-recyclable material or garbage in the recycling system, from leftover food in containers to non-recyclable plastic packaging to more obvious garbage such as clothing and propane tanks.
Many cities are struggling to clean up their recycling and lower their contamination rates, but the potential solutions also have high costs and trade-offs. In the cities with the dirtiest recycling, Toronto and Edmonton, contamination rates can be upwards of 25 per cent.
Many Canadians are recycling wrong, and it's costing us millions | CBC News
