Tonnes of non-recyclables dumped in blue bins
February 9, 2016 - Prince Albert Herald - Crews at the Prince Albert Crown Shred & Recycling Inc. depot at 460 40th St. E. sort through a load of recyclables.
Public education is wanting when it comes to the city’s blue bin program
More than 120 metric tonnes of non-recyclable material was dumped into blue bins last year.
Some areas of the city are worse than others, Mayor Greg Dionne said during Monday’s executive committee meeting of council, questioning why the city hasn’t removed bins from certain areas.
“We’ve discussed it practically every year,” Coun. Lee Atkinson responded. “Where there’s commonly people who don’t have any interest in recycling, why are we going through the motions?”
Why not introduce a two-tiered utility bill program where those who recycle pay less than those who refuse to recycle, Atkinson argued -- a suggestion to which Dionne banged on his desk in approval.
On top of that, Atkinson noted that there are still some multi-unit dwellings without blue bins.
These issues will come up during upcoming sanitation budget discussions, at which time Atkinson hopes to address “a number of anomalies.”
In total, the Prince Albert residential recycling pickup saw 1,289.9 metric tonnes of recyclables picked up in 2015.
Last year, Prince Albert city council approved imposing a $100 fine for members of the public whose garbage is at least 10 per cent cardboard. A commercial rate of $300 was also approved.
In the longer term, city council plans on expanding penalties to encompass the wasteful tossing of all recyclables.
With the city’s recycling program encompassing a wide swath of items, from plastic to tin, residential blue bins should be filled faster than garbage bins, sanitation manager Dale Rankel said last year.
What is recyclable?
The City of Prince Albert website, www.citypa.ca, provides some recycling guidelines. The following items can be placed in your curbside blue bin:
• Paper and cardboard, including newspapers, phone books and pizza boxes.
• Metal food cans and foil, including aluminum foil.
• Plastic jugs, bottles and food containers, including all plastics with recycling symbols one through seven. Plastic bags are also fair game.
• Beverage containers, including anything that is refundable, but NOT glass containers.
• On Monday, the City of Prince Albert announced that “washed and squashed” milk jugs and containers will now be accepted in curbside blue bins alongside other dairy containers such as yogurt and sour cream.