Three months into the Multi-Material BC recycling program and the city of Port Coquitlam is asking for a few tweaks to the system.
Council voted Monday night to send a letter to the organization asking that strong consideration be given to providing a drop-off location closer to the Tri-Cities.
Previously, PoCo sent the recycled materials it collected from homes to a facility in New Westminster. Under the new recycling program, city trucks now must drive to Surrey, which has resulted in an average of 45 minutes of overtime per driver per recycling collection shift.
"We estimate this overtime will cost approximately $34,000 annually," Kristen Meersman, PoCo's director of engineering and operations, said in a staff report. "While this cost is within our original estimates of extra costs to participate in the MMBC program, this is an area that could represent further savings and incentive to the city."
PoCo also wants its residents to be able to include plastic bags in their blue bins and have a recycling depot in the municipality for all materials that are not included in the curbside pickup. Currently, items such as glass and plastic bags must be taken to either a facility in Coquitlam or Pitt Meadows.
"I have heard from a number of residents and the report rightly identifies some of their concerns," Coun. Brad West said during Monday night's meeting. "The maps attached [to the report] show how far people have to drive if they want to reach a Return-It depot."
MMBC is an industry-led organization that has assumed responsibility for disposal of all residential packaging and printed paper.
Some municipalities, including Port Coquitlam, opted to collect the materials on behalf of MMBC (and are reimbursed for costs) while, in other municipalities, such as Coquitlam, MMBC has taken on the task of collecting the recyclables.
The initiative was launched to transfer responsibility for the collection of recyclable packing away from local government and back on to the industry that produces the materials.
