Blue Bins (Lethbridge News NOW)

By Lara Fominoff

City reports large increase in amount of recyclable material collected with curbside recycling program

Jun 26, 2019 | 12:10 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The city-wide blue bin recycling program is less than a couple of months old but has already collected more than 562,000 kg of recycling material.

And since it began, City of Lethbridge Waste and Recycling General Manager Joel Sanchez says the City has seen a 96 per cent increase in the amount of recyclable material collected, compared with the same period last year.

Waste and Recycling Services Manager Joel Sanchez

That material as well, does not include what was collected during last year’s pilot project.

“This number is from May 14 when the program started, until last Friday was collection,” he explained.

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About 90 per cent of the material collected is good, marketable material. Of that 90 percent, 82 per cent are things like cardboard and paper, 4 per cent are plastics, and four percent are metals and other recyclable material. Ten per cent of the material is contaminated or unusable.

“Fibres is (sic) good materials. We have a market – we have been able to ship roughly 75 per cent of what we have received. And it has gone to North American markets for the most part and Eastern Canada in the case of the plastics.”

That said, there are still some issues with people putting things like old propane, CO2 and helium tanks into the blue bins, some medical waste and things like bedsheets or oil containers etc. And only about 60 per cent of those who have blue bins in the city are using them.

“We know that it’s going to take time for residents to adapt to the program. So, it’s not uncommon while talking to other communities that have implemented curbside recycling that it usually takes six months for the program to be at a mature level….at least to get to a level where everybody is comfortable with the program.”

Sanchez was while this program is still in its infancy, the plan is to bring another proposal to City Council sometime this fall on organics recycling and potentially other materials like plastic bags and glass.

“We need a little bit more time to see how the program goes. We are planning to come back later in the fall, probably with an organics implementation project. That will come later to council to present the proposal and get the approval.”

Anyone with doubts on what can be recycled should go to the city’s webpage at https://curbside.lethbridge.ca/, they can contact the City at 3-1-1 or when in doubt, put the material into their black bin instead.