Like many people I’m in favour and a supporter of recycling. I diligently separate metal, plastic, paper and cardboard, making sure that each goes into its correct recycling bin. So what I recently witnessed at the Sportsplex drop off on the corner of Parkway and Penfield in Willow Point came as an unpleasant surprise.
A large BFI Canada waste management truck arrived shortly after I did. The truck driver started with the two plastics bins, at the North end of the row, lifting and dumping the loads into the truck’s common container. Then the driver moved onto the next cardboard bin and dumped it on top of the plastic, continuing to dump all the remaining bins, including the newspapers and metal, on top of each other. I asked the driver if he was taking everything to be dumped, because it was all mixed together. He said no, it was going to be sorted. So if everything is mixed together when BFI picks it up what’s the point of pre-sorting recyclables at home and separate bins for each category at the drop off sites? Why not have common bins for everything and save time and bother? There should also be a cost saving, as most bins are less then half full when picked up so less bins would be needed.
Jim Singbeil
Campbell River