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Osoyoos surveying residents on new recycling pick-up policy

Residents will no longer be able to use the blue bags for recycling as of July 1
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The Town of Osoyoos must decide how their recycling program will work with the upcoming Recycle BC changes. Black Press file photo

Soon Osoyoos won’t be able to rely on the blue bags for recycling.

A policy change by Recycle BC goes into effect in July 1, 2020, stipulating blue and clear bags are not to be used as recycle containers. Osoyoos is looking to get ahead of the new policy with a survey for how the town should adjust.

“We in Osoyoos use the bags for recyclable material,” said Jim Dinwoodie, the director of, “So now we have to change that. In the past, we had asked people about carts, and we have received conflicting responses. So we hope the third time’s the charm.”

Recycle BC has put in place the change due to the hazards and costs of handling the bags in their recycling facilities. Residents are offered two different choices in the survey; they will either be supplied a recycling bin by the Town of Osoyoos, or there will be a bring-your-own-bin policy put in place. With both options, bundled cardboard will continue to placed and picked up separately.

Both options present their own benefits and drawbacks, and the town wants to hear from residents before putting in place any official policy.

With the former option, the town would take all responsibility for purchasing and maintaining the recycling bins; however, there would be additional costs from the purchasing and maintenance that would be rolled into residents’ annual fees. The bins themselves were another point of issue in the Town of Osoyoos.

“A lot of our people down here are seniors, and they live in smaller senior complexes with smaller garages, so they probably already have a smaller container that fits with their car,” said Dinwoodie. “So these big 240 L rolling carts, it may not fit in their garage. And a lot of our residents are older, and find it difficult to maneuver these carts, even though they have wheels and a handle and all of that. That’s a concern we’ve heard from residents previously.”

With the bring-your-own-bin option, residents purchase or rent their own recycling bin. The resident would bear sole responsibility for purchasing the bin and maintaining it. With this option, any damage or replacement bin would be the resident’s responsibility.

“We’ll provide a free sticker that says ‘recycling only’ that people can stick on whatever container they’re using,” said Dinwoodie. “You can use whatever you have right now if that’s what you want. So if you’re already doing that, then you could keep doing that.”

The survey is open online at www.osoyoos.ca under Services and Curbside Recycling, or they can be printed off and handed in at Osoyoos Town Hall, the Osoyoos Sanitary Landfill, or the Sonora Community Centre. The survey will be open for about a month. The town is looking to get started on the issue as soon as possible, in order to begin negotiations with the company that picks up their recycling depending on which option residents choose.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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