Dive Brief:
- Recycle BC will add flexible plastic and some non-deposit glass to its curbside collection program for residents in the Regional District of Central Okanagan of British Columbia starting in May.
- The curbside option is meant to help Recycle BC meet its new recovery targets for flexible plastics, which is a 50% recovery rate by 2027. Flexible plastics and glass are already recyclable for residents in BC, but mainly only at depots and drop-off locations such as London Drugs.
- Recycle BC, the not-for-profit producer responsibility organization that manages paper and packaging EPR in British Columbia, has slowly expanded its flexible film recycling options in the last year. The group says it will also add a dedicated flexible plastics recycling bin option at apartments and condos in the city of Vancouver starting Feb. 16.
Dive Insight:
Recycle BC, which has managed packaging EPR in the province since the program started in 2014, has been working on streamlining and adjusting its recycling services in an effort to continue ramping up diversion rates. Offerings such as the new curbside services and dedicated, pink-colored bins for flexible plastic are two such strategies, said Ann Goulding, Recycle BC’s stakeholder relations manager.
In 2024, Recycle BC estimates it collected 24% of flexible plastic in the province. “We consider that pretty great compared to other jurisdictions, but that also means 76% isn’t collected, right? So it's a huge opportunity to get people to recycle more of this material,” Goulding said. “One way of making it more convenient is putting the [recycling bin] right on your doorstep.”
Keeping the recycled material local is another major goal for the organization. Goulding estimates that 99% of all plastics it recycles — including 100% of the flexible plastics it collects— ends up being processed by Merlin Plastics, a BC-based company that creates recycled flake and pellets for use in commercial and industrial products.
Most of the glass collected in BC ends up being processed by Enviro-corp, which makes cullet and other products like sandblasting media, she said.
The addition of curbside services for flexible plastic and glass in Central Okanagan comes as Recycle BC gets ready to take over the regional district’s recycling management contract. Recycle BC already serves about 2 million households through curbside, multifamily or depot services, which the organization said represents about 99% of the province.
In 2023, the Regional District of Central Okanagan decided to transition away from managing its own recycling services, and it awarded Recycle BC the contract to manage recycling services and related resident education programs starting in May 2026, Goulding said. Environmental 360 Solutions, the region’s hauler, will continue to provide recycling collection services.
The PRO picks up new contract agreements every few years, usually when a locality puts out an RFP for service, Goulding said. Recycle BC typically provides recycling services either directly to communities or by partnering with local governments, First Nations or other not-for-profit organizations. It doesn’t own its own trucks or infrastructure.
Recycle BC has conducted a few pilot programs in the past to test flexible plastic collection services. In 2024, Recycle BC implemented its first apartment and condo collection service in Sudbury and in West Vancouver by adding pink bins to buildings there. Then, in 2025, it added curbside services for single-family homes for West Vancouver and Maple Ridge. Recycle BC’s new pink bin service for apartments and condos in the city of Vancouver, which starts in February, is the next step.
New contractors will also take over collection services for these apartments, according to Recycle BC. Recycling Alternative and Emterra Environmental will provide services once offered by WM. Goulding said it’s easier to begin offering new kinds of collection methods for residents at the start of new collection contracts, rather than introducing the programs in the middle of existing contracts.
“By introducing a dedicated flexible plastic cart in apartment and condo buildings, we’re removing barriers for residents, while ensuring these materials are collected, sorted and properly managed and recycled here in Metro Vancouver,” said Sam Baker, executive director of Recycle BC, in a statement.
This story first appeared in the Waste Dive: Recycling newsletter. Sign up for the weekly emails here.
