Some residents in the Capital Regional District have had to wait several weeks for their blue-box recycling to be collected at the curb.
The CRD said the company contracted to pick up paper, cans and plastics has been hit with a perfect storm — piles of snow and inclement weather, high volumes of materials from the holiday season, staffing challenges and supply-chain problems that are affecting equipment maintenance.
A tweet by a Victoria resident on Thursday said: “No recycling pickup, again. Next pickup Jan. 27. Last Dec. 23 six weeks apart.”
Residents are being asked to store their recycling until their next scheduled pick-up day, as there won’t be alternate days for collections.
The CRD said Emterra, the contractor responsible for collections, is trying its best to complete scheduled routes between 7:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. each day, but volumes at the curb following weather-related cancellations and problems with vehicles needing repairs have led to additional service disruptions in some areas.
Residents are encouraged to return paper, cardboard and mixed containers to a recycling depot to help ease collection volumes over the next few weeks.
A list of participating depots can be found on the CRD website.
dkloster@timescolonist.com
