Even though the amount of people recycling is on the rise this year, the Thompson Recycling Centre maintains that regular, and sometimes hazardous, waste is still making its way into their “blue bins” at a disproportionate level.
According to manager Billie Jo Thompson, who’s been working at the centre for the last seven years, some of the non-recyclables that they have to sort through on a regular basis include: animal waste, food waste, yard clippings, old paint cans, diapers, live ammunition, and used medication.
Typically, the City of Thompson bears a 16 per cent contamination rate amongst it recyclable materials.
“It’s constant. We get a lot and it often slows us down and takes away from processing the recyclables,” said Thompson. “It has an effect on the morale of the employees if they’re constantly [sorting through] food waste and stuff.”
On top of being an inconvenience and a drain on morale, Thompson said that these contaminants can also present an outright health hazard to her employees.
“Not long ago someone put a gallon of varnish in their recycle bin and the container was not closed,” she said. “With the strong odour … it presents a health risk.”
Outside of sorting through your recyclables and non-recyclables properly, Thompson said that local residents can also make her employees’ jobs a little easier by giving certain items a bit of a wash.
“Things shouldn’t be soiled, wet, or sticky,” she said. “We don’t need things completely washed out, but ravioli cans and things like that … giving it a quick rinse would be very helpful.”
Despite these problems, Thompson said that local residents are taking the time to recycle in increased numbers overall, which bodes well for the future.
“Our volume for recycling is also up … so we want to certainly applaud that. We just kind of want people to be more aware of some of the contamination that’s also going into those bins.”
For any more information on how to avoid recycling contamination, you can call the Thompson Recycling Centre at (204) 677-7991.
