The Thompson Nicola Regional District and Recycle BC are reassuring residents that recycling is the answer following a story that aired in September which exposed the challenges related to plastics in the province.
As a result of said story, countless residents have contacted the TNRD for reassurance on the process of recycling in the region. A statement was issued by Recycle BC to reassure the public on the benefits of recycling.
"We believe Recycle BC is a leading example for the responsible management of residential recycling and we believe the facts speak for themselves," wrote Recycle BC. "We know there is more work to be done and we are committed to continuously improving. But the single most important fact is, British Columbians can feel secure that when they put accepted plastic packaging in their residential recycling, we will manage it properly."
According to Recycle BC, this province has the most advanced and integrated processes for the management of residential recycling of anywhere in Canada.
“We do [audits] to continuously improve our quality to ensure we can access end markets that will recycle our materials. We track the end market destination for our collected materials through a chain of custody process. Our process demands full traceability and auditability of all shipments to end markets or disposal, using documentation to verify where materials are shipped from and where they are sent.”
“We are deeply concerned with Marketplace’s juxtaposition of three simple commercial transactions as a proxy for the sophisticated system of checks and balances that exist within BC’s residential recycling system. The stakes could not be higher – the world is faced with a global plastics crisis – and this misleading report could erode faith in a system that is producing the best environmental outcomes in Canada, which is a disservice to the people of BC, Canada, and the world.”
To read the entire Recycle BC statement, click here.
