By Korie Marshall
The Regional District Board has not yet decided if it will “bridge the gap” in recycling services.
The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George’s contract with Cascades Recovery for recycling services expires on May 31, 2014, the date the province’s new recycling regulations around packaging and printed paper come into effect. However Multi Material BC (MMBC), the industry association set up to manage the stewardship program for packaging and printed paper, has announced they won’t be providing blue-box recycling services to Prince George until September, and are not currently offering any drop-depot services to the city or any of the other communities throughout the rest of the district.
At its April 17 meeting, the Regional District Board considered three options: providing no further drop depot services after May; continuing to operate drop depot services until September when MMBC introduces a curbside collection program for Prince George; or continue to operate drop depot services to communities outside Prince George, like Valemount and McBride, after September 2014. However Renee McCloskey, spokesperson for the Regional District, says the Board did not make a decision yet, and plans to revisit the issue at its May meeting, once it has had a chance to review the financial impacts of the three options.
