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Cranbrook, BC (March 1, 2021) – The long-awaited curbside recycling program in Cranbrook is scheduled to officially begin residential collection services on Monday May 3, in partnership with RecycleBC and GFL.

To help our residents educate themselves about the new curbside recycling service, the City has created an information rich webpage at www.cranbrook.ca/recycling.  There you will find more information about the overall recycling program including pickup schedules, cart information and proper cart placement, acceptable materials for recycling, a thorough ‘What Goes Where’ guide and a series of frequently asked questions.

“I want to thank RecycleBC and the RDEK for working with us and funding the purchase of the carts. To be able to offer curbside recycling to our community without impacting utility fees was an opportunity that would have been difficult to pass up,” says Mayor Lee Pratt. “I am excited to see the curbside recycling program taking shape, and I fully expect our residents will be pleased with this service.”

“We are looking forward to starting the curbside recycling program. We encourage residents to use the recycling webpage to search recyclable items, download their pickup schedule, and sign up for email reminders for their recycling and garbage pickup,” says Katelyn Pocha, Water/Wastewater Project Manager with the City of Cranbrook.

Between April 9 and April 21, 2021, the City’s contractor GFL will be delivering one, 240 litre wheeled cart for recyclables to each residential household, along with an information guide. Each cart is tagged and has its own serial number for tracking purposes. The cart tag allows for monitoring when the recycling has been collected and to help track any potential contamination.  It is important that residents ensure all materials placed in the cart are cleaned properly to avoid contamination.

It is important for residents to know that through the curbside recycling program most recyclables can be deposited in the carts, however there are several items that are not accepted. Those include glass (including household glass containers), soft plastic (plastic grocery bags, plastic wrapping, plastic overwrap), Styrofoam packaging (cushion packaging and food trays) and electronics. Those items must be taken to the RecycleBC depot at the Cranbrook Transfer Station.

In July 2020, Cranbrook was the grateful recipient of a grant of $691,640 from the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) to be paid equally over 5 years for the purchase of the recycling carts.

In November 2020, the City entered into a 5-year funding agreement with RecycleBC for single-stream, automated curbside recycling collection.  Through the agreement, the City of Cranbrook will get an incentive of $236,050 per year to provide the recycling service to residential households.  An RFP was issued in the fall of 2020 and the contract was awarded to GFL for a three-year period with an option for a two-year renewal.