The recycling centres in the Cowichan Valley Regional District will now accept a new stream of recyclables.
The new stream is called “other flexible plastic packaging” and includes chip bags, snack bar wrappers, stand-up food pouches and many other types of flexible plastics.
The new stream of plastics is free to drop off at both public recycling centres and other depot locations in the Cowichan region, but these items are not recyclable in curb-side collection blue totes.
“It’s exciting that materials which were previously garbage can now be collected at depots,” said Tauseef Waraich, the CVRD’s manager of recycling and waste management.
“But it’s important to note that the materials accepted in residential curb-side recycling hasn’t changed. Flexible plastic wrapping, like chip bags and net produce bags, get tangled in the sorting machinery which is why they can’t be recycled in curb-side totes.”
Waraich said the plastic items will be collected as part of a research and development project to determine how best to effectively recover usable plastic from these materials.