The province’s new recycling stewardship program denies they cherry-picked easy-to-reach communities in which they’ve launched.
This is an accusation levelled at Multi Material BC at the latest RDCK board meeting.
Many of our rural areas are not part of the free collection scheme because of strict rules and joining up would have been a step backwards on the standards of recycling already underway. And the door is now closed to being part of the producer-paid scheme in part because MMBC has run out of cash to expand their network of depots.
Managing Director Allen Langdon says their network does include far flung parts of the province – like Stewart and Haida Gwaii and they are now serving all those communities who signed up early.
MMBC says if the province fined the businesses who still aren’t paying into the recycling scheme – like the newspaper industry – there’d be enough money to include areas like ours.