There’s no need to throw your empty chip bags in the garbage anymore, as the City of Richmond has expanded its recycling program to collect flexible plastic packaging.
As of Sept. 1, the City of Richmond now recycles packaging including zipper lock pouches, crinkly wrappers and bags, flexible packaging with a plastic seal, net plastic bags, protective packing such as bubble wrap and shrink wrap.
“Richmond residents have consistently been leaders in recycling and thanks to their efforts, we are diverting 78 per cent of household waste from the landfill,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie in a press release.
“We have a target to divert 80 per cent of waste by 2020, and this new program, combined with other recycling such as the Green Cart program, will help us achieve the remaining two per cent.”
According to the city, “other flexible plastic packaging is one of the fastest growing packaging types on the market and the largest category of packaging that was previously not collected.”
As these items must be kept separate from rigid plastic packaging and containers, they are not accepted in curbside collection. However, flexible packaging can be collected at Richmond’s Recycling Depot (5555 Lynas Lane) or at Richmond’s London Drugs locations (11666 Steveston Hwy or 5971 No 3 Rd).
After collecting these items, the city will recycle the products or produce engineered fuel.
The city’s pilot project for collecting these items is part of a Recycle BC initiative and Richmond will receive $175 per tonne of material it collects. In 2019, this will increase to $500.
