Recycling answers

Today CBC in Toronto unleashed a new recycling program which has everyone in a tizzy. It’s a 180 degree turn - whereas before they didn’t recycle enough, now it’s almost impossible to throw something away.

It’s a great idea, but for the moment confusion reigns. It’s a cold Monday morning, and as everyone arrived they blew their nose and looked for a place to put their used Kleenex and empty coffee cup… and had no clue what to do with either.

The garbage bins had all been taken away, replaced with an unlabeled black sidecar hanging on the blue box. These lunchbag-sized containers, which replaced a daily garbage bin five times the size, are to hold your garbage for a full week.

Organic and paper waste can now be dealt with in new ways, but the accompanying literature didn’t explain what to do with used Kleenex or empty Tim Horton’s cups. I’m told that a clarification is coming, but until then, here are the answers I received to my top five questions:

1) Kleenex: if it’s gross, put it in the organics bin. If it’s clean it can go in paper.

2) Organic bins: small green bins, emptied daily, are supposed to be in each kitchenette. But the lids didn’t arrive today, so they should be available tomorrow. For today, you can take organic waste to the new bin in the main recycling centres.

3) Cardboard coffee cups: These CAN be recycled in the paper box. They often have a waterproof coating, but this generally comes out in Toronto’s recycling process. I’m told the city doesn’t advertise that, because they aren’t convinced that they’ll be able to handle coating from ALL the Tim’s cups if people knew to put them in the recylcing. So they’ve been deliberately vague.

4) If your miniscule garbage container fills up (e.g. you use two plastic cups in a week) you can empty them at the main recycling stations. These used to only receive recyclables, but now have a big bin for garbage too.

5) Bring out your dead… electronics. Today and tomorrow, the corp will take your dead electronics from home (cell phones, monitors, printers etc.) and have them recycled. Good deal!

More as it unfolds… excuse me while I walk my pile of Kleenex down the hall. (Get that free flu shot, OK?)

Posted by: Paul Gorbould | 10-15-2007 | 09:10 AM
Posted in: CBC