eco-strata

Currently, 52% of total waste in Metro Vancouver is recycled, while the other 48% is collected and taken to one of two landfills or to a waste-to-energy facility. Notably in 2008, Metro Vancouver launched the Zero Waste Challenge, an ambitious programme which sets out to minimize the amount of waste going to disposal by using opportunities to reduce, reuse, recycle and recover. The goal is to divert 70% of solid waste by 2015.

Strata councils can help this effort by providing residents with better waste-reduction and recycling information. By law, many items are banned from the garbage by Metro Vancouver, so they must be recycled through existing curbside or blue box recycling programmes, removed through various take-back schemes, or brought to a recycling and/or waste facility such as one of the Lower Mainland’s seven Transfer Stations for proper disposal.

10 steps for better waste recycling and disposal in your building:

1. Print out the Metro Vancouver Banned-from-the-Garbage list and post it in the mailbox room or on the building’s notice board, as well as in a prominent location near the garbage bins.

2. Conduct a small waste audit to get a better picture of what is being recycled and what isn’t, how many banned items are getting thrown out, and so forth.

3. Meet with your sustainability committee members / neighbours / strata council members to identify current challenges regarding waste disposal and recycling in the building (lack of space; lack of cooperation by residents; insufficient recycling bins; etc.) and discuss strategies to address these concerns.

4. Space permitting, create a swap platform near the garbage and recycle bins where residents can leave items like books, used electronics, sports equipment, etc., that can still have a second (or third) life for others to pick up. Simple instructions could include telling people to leave an item for, say, a two-week period, and to dispose of it appropriately (by giving it to charity or dropping it off at a transfer station) if it is not adopted in that time frame.

5. Add extra recycling bins to facilitate the collection of recyclables that are not picked up through the regular bluebox program, such as empty milk  cartons, plastic shopping bags and dead household batteries. Other recyclables can include electronics, wood, and Styrofoam. Create homemade laminated labels for the bins, and see whether a resident or the caretaker can drop these off at one of the Return-It or other recycling locations in the Lower Mainland.

6. Invite the strata council to adopt rules that require residents to recycle and dispose of discarded items as the law requires. The strata corporation can fine owners up to $50 for a breach of rules.

7. Draft a note informing residents of your efforts to improve recycling and waste disposal in the building, and remind them of Metro Vancouver’s list of banned items from the garbage as well as your building’s rules and bylaws on this matter, if applicable. You can also take this opportunity to ask residents to provide feedback about current initiatives and invite them to make suggestions for improvements. This note can be slipped under doors and posted on the building’s notice board.

8. Consider mounting a security camera in the waste and recycling room if you are finding that many banned items are being thrown into the garbage despite your efforts to provide information and alternatives.

9. Call your local recycling council. In BC, the Recycling Council’s Hotline is 604-R-E-C-Y-C-L-E (604-732-9253), Monday to Friday, 9 am to 8 pm; Saturday, 9 am to 4 pm, or e-mail them at hotline@rcbc.bc.ca if you have any questions about what can be recycled and where. For more information, visit www.rcbc.bc.ca

10. Start or improve a waste recycling program in your multiresidential complex by contacting a Sustainable Business Advisor at Metro Vancouver at 604-451-6575, or by e-mail at business_services@metrovancouver.org for a no-cost assessment.

Some key websites with information on recycling and proper waste disposal: