The Cowichan Valley Regional District is cracking down on curbside recycling contamination, those items that should not be placed in curbside recycling totes.
Plastic bags, Styrofoam containers, and other non-curbside recyclables add unnecessary costs to the service when placed by the road. Much worse are items like broken glass, used diapers and lighters, all of which have been found in curbside recycling totes and pose health and safety hazards for CVRD staff.
To reduce contamination levels and help educate residents on which items need to be brought to regional recycling centres, CVRD staff will be conducting curbside recycling audits in certain areas of the Cowichan region throughout the rest of August.
Staff will be checking the contents of recycling totes for contaminants and leaving ‘Oops’ stickers.