RDCO Waste Reduction Ambassadors, cart checks returns for the 6th year

Waste Reduction Ambassadors with the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) will be back on the streets this spring and summer.

The ambassadors will be out in the community carrying out the Cart Checking Program, which is in its sixth year of operation. The program is meant to reduce recycling contamination and encourage “good recycling habits,” the RDCO says in a release.

Cynthia Coates, solid waste services supervisor, says that although most residents are doing a good job, audits regularly show there are still a “substantial” number of unacceptable items going into the recycling stream.

“We’re focusing our education and outreach efforts this year with a ‘Know Before You Throw’ motto,” says Coates.

“If we don’t significantly reduce and eliminate these unacceptable products from our recycling loads, we face financial penalties from Recycle BC.”

In February 2023, Recycle BC said Central Okanagan curbside recycling carts averaged around 8% contamination resulting in a total of $55,000 in penalties to the City of Kelowna and City of West Kelowna in the last quarter of 2022.

Waste Reduction Ambassadors will be doing random cart checks and if they find items that shouldn’t be in a recycling bin, they’ll leave an information card and a yellow reference sticker that highlights what can be recycled and what cannot.

According to the release, if there is significant contamination the cart will not be picked up until the unaccepted material is removed and repeat offences can result in a fine of $150.

The RDCO reminds all Central Okanagan residents of items that do not belong in carts:

• Garbage, including garden hoses, landscape edging tarps, wood, broken ceramics

• Non-packaging plastics such as toys, Tupperware-type containers, laundry baskets

• Items recyclable at depots and other drop-off locations (but not in the cart)

  • Plastic bags, including bagged recyclables

  • Styrofoam

  • Glass

  • Soft plastics such as cling wrap, bubble wrap, chip and snack bags, zipper bags

  • Electronics and small appliances

  • Textiles such as clothes, fabric and pillows

  • Soft cover novels and hardcover books and textbooks

• Hazardous waste

  • Hazards such as batteries, syringes, propane tanks, oil jugs

For more information about recycling, feel free to visit this link.