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Cranbrook, BC (July 14, 2020) – Residents in Cranbrook may see curbside recycling collection service begin as early as spring 2021, following the approval of Council to enter into an agreement with RecycleBC Monday night.

The proposed recycling service for residential properties, is expected to be on a bi-weekly pickup schedule falling on the same days as the regular garbage collection.  This new service will help divert waste from the landfill and will provide a convenient way for residents to practice recycling without having to leave their home.

“We are very pleased to see this moving forward earlier than planned. It will be a benefit to the City financially and a definite convenience for our residents,” says Mayor Lee Pratt. “I want to personally thank the RDEK Directors and staff for their participation in this project so we could start early in the new year.”

The City, through the support of the RDEK, will be providing recycling carts to all residential properties. On July 7, the RDEK announced in a media release, that they will provide up to $691,641 paid equally over 5 years for the purchase of 6,231 carts. Each cart will be branded with a City logo and have an identification for each address. Carts will belong to an individual address, so if the owner or occupant moves, the cart is required to stay at that address.

Categories of recycling to be placed in the cart for collection include printed papers, corrugated cardboard, paper, plastic, and metal packaging materials. Glass will not be collected as part of this new service.

To minimize the impact of capital costs, the City will be contracting out the services for three years. In two years, the City has budgeted the purchase of mechanized garbage trucks and will evaluate including recycling service with garbage collection at that time.

With the assistance of the RDEK to purchase the recycling carts, and the anticipated RecycleBC incentive, the utility fees for 2021-2023 are not expected to be impacted by this additional service. Utility fees overall will continue to be evaluated annually.

The City will be undertaking a public education campaign ahead of the service launch to help residents understand what can be recycled and when their pickup dates will be.