Port Moody residents are producing less garbage, but they’re not taking as much care with their recycling.
According to the city’s biannual solid waste and recycling report that was presented to council on Tuesday, June 11, residents reduced the waste they produced in 2023 by 185 tonnes from 2022.
The total 6,328 tonnes of garbage and recycling that was collected last year was also one of the lowest volumes ever.
But after significant progress had been made between 2021 and 2022 to reduce the amount of contaminated items that couldn’t be accepted for recycling from 10.7 to 7.46 per cent, the contamination rate increased to 7.76 per cent in 2023.
“It remains critical that we continue our efforts to lower the contamination rates, avoid fines and maximize the collection of recyclable materials,” said Donna Bucsis, Port Moody’s solid waste and recycling coordinator.
Those efforts could include communication campaigns, audits and even fines or refusal to collect recycling, similar to a contamination remediation plan that was implemented in 2022.
In an audit conducted of 1,442 recycling carts by city staff in 2023, 195 contained some contaminated items and homeowners were issued an educational flyer. Another 87 carts contained extreme amounts of contaminated items and those were not collected.
The report stated the average household in Port Moody produced 250 kg of garbage in 2023, 120 kg of recycling, 402 kg of green waste and 13 kg of glass.
