Hold onto your glass jars and bottles — they won’t be part of curbside or depot collections until further notice.
Widespread flooding and road closures throughout the province have created transportation, storage and processing challenges for Recycle B.C., the organization responsible for managing residential recycling in the province.
The ban on glass in curbside containers and depots takes effect on Monday and will last until Recycle B.C. can safely resume operations, it says.
Glass material collected in the Capital Regional District on behalf of Recycle B.C. is either processed into new materials at a facility in Abbotsford or turned into sandblast materials at a processor in Quesnel.
The CRD said both have been affected by this week’s flooding.
Recycle B.C. is asking residents to store glass items at home until collection is reinstated. Glass continues to be banned from household garbage and cannot be mixed with other recycling streams.
Cowichan Valley Regional District residents from Duncan to Ladysmith also told residents to store their glass — as well as foam packaging — until end-market processors resume operations.
Depots at Bings Creek, Meade Creek and Peerless Road recycling centres won’t be taking glass and foam packaging.
“We are asking residents to please hang onto glass and foam packaging until we receive notice that the networks are restored,” Doug Stevens, manager of operations for recycling and waste management at the CVRD, said in a statement. “Please do not put these materials in the curbside recycling totes, as they will break into unrecoverable pieces and create a health and safety hazard to workers.”
Curbside collection for all other materials, including paper, cardboard and mixed containers, will continue. Refundable glass beverage containers are not part of Recycle B.C.’s program and can still be returned to bottle depots and retailers across the region.
dkloster@timescolonist.com
