By Kathy Gallant

Recycling contamination an issue in M.L.

Apr 9, 2018 | 12:00 PM

Since 2013, a huge amount of recycled material has avoided the regional landfill, but some prohibited items are still making their way into curbside bins in Meadow Lake.

At the March 26 city council meeting, the administration was asked about the impact of curbside recycling in Meadow Lake. City Clerk Jessica Walters summarized a few main points about the program, which originally started in 2013.

“From 2012 to 2013, the city saw a reduction of 28 per cent, or 427 tonnes, to its landfill,” Walters said. “Since 2013, the amount of waste hauled to the landfill has remained steady, fluctuating by one to two per cent each year.”

From 2016 to 2017, however, the amount of recycling dropped from 329.36 to 213.95 tonnes, which was largely attributed to contaminated materials being mixed in with recycling. In 2015 Meadow Lake signed on with Multi-Material Stewardship Western, a non-profit which helps regulate recycling. The organization audited the city last year and discovered there was a significant amount of contaminated material in the recycling weights, Walters said.

“Contamination continues to be an issue in curbside recycling,” Walters said. “This has included items no longer accepted like glass, but also bagged garbage, electronics, and diapers. In 2017, Shkopich Enviro ran an audit in conjunction with the city’s bylaw department, with several tickets being issued for including garbage in recycle bins.”

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She said the bylaw enforcement seemed to help the problem in the short term, but Shkopich Enviro recently reported an upswing of contaminated materials yet again. In coming weeks, she said Shkopich Enviro will be working with the city to run a more targeted public awareness campaign.

Glass has not been accepted in recycling since 2016, and plastic bags and cellophane were banned in recent weeks.

A full list of recyclable material is available on the City of Meadow Lake website.

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @ReporterKath