1 M bottles a day go missing

[Mark5]

This article by Jon Manchester sounds alarming but is it really? " The report by the Ocean Legacy Foundation states that every day in B.C., more than one million beverage containers and 2.3 million beverage container caps are unaccounted for. They could end up in lakes, streams, the ocean, or simply be left as litter in the environment" they proclaim. Why did they leave out the landfill? How about people using them at home for storing things as well? How are they estimating this?

I happen to work with garbage here in Kelowna and I can tell you that many of the garbage receptacles I deal with on a regular basis contain a lot of beverage containers. Everything from coffee cups to beer cans to soft drink cans and bottles and water bottles. I also do not see much litter of this type either laying around. I also notice that some of the more easily accessible receptacles are picked through by certain people who collect these bottles and take them to recycling. Many people here in Kelowna at least are good recyclers too.

A quick internet search will reveal that it is many third world countries who are the main culprits in sending plastics to the oceans. You can see rivers choked with discarded garbage. Rivers that flow into the sea.
BC has one of the best recycling programs and some of the most responsible people on earth when it comes to caring about the environment. To lay a guilt trip on us when we are doing so well is unjustified. The people of BC should be proud of the efforts we make. I would agree to increase the deposit on bottles though because this does encourage recycling and gives some people who retrieve them a bit of an income.

It is too bad that Canadians are being persecuted by certain environmental groups for many of the worlds woes when we are not the real problem. This gives the government more excuses to tax us even more and try to make us feel guilty when we are innocent of wrong doing.

[rustled]

https://www.castanet.net/news/BC/254802 ... tles-daily
Yes, I was thinking this piece was oozing with unnecessary alarmism, probably to convince us we need a carbon tax.

Manchester's just repeating what he's been told without making any effort at serious journalism. In today's culture, serious efforts at journalism on this topic are not welcome.

Here's another part that made me shake my head:

2.3 million beverage container caps are unaccounted for

Well, at one time we were to remove caps from pop bottles before returning them for a refund. And when our plastic recycling program was launched here, there was a minimum-diameter limit to the size of lid they would take.

So I'd bet most of these caps are in the landfill.

Most of the problems with our recycling program are a result of confusing instructions. (Plastic bags, BUT no plastic bags with zip locks. Ok, then can we cut the zip locks off and put the rest in the recycling, or is the chemical makeup of the plastic itself also a problem and including them will contaminate the plastics collection stream? Spent time looking for the answer and didn't find it, so into the trash bin they go.)

[JagXKR]

Here's another part that made me shake my head:

2.3 million beverage container caps are unaccounted for

We are supposed to take off the caps. OLF sounds like another lying eco nut organization to me. Got caught in their own deception.
https://www.return-it.ca/beverage/faqs/general/

Why do I have to take the caps off but leave the labels on my containers?

The caps are made of different materials than the containers themselves. In order to maximize the value of the recovered materials (and minimize the cost of the system for consumers) "contaminants", which means materials other than the main one, must be kept out of the system wherever possible. Removing the caps at the start of the recycling process is the simplest and easiest way to do that. The labels are required so that the depot can identify the container as being part of the deposit system. Paying out for containers which are not part of the system increases costs for the system and, ultimately, for consumers.

[rustled]

^^Thanks for that. Any clarity around which community recycling programs now accept small caps? Calgary's program says to trash them,

Put small metal lids and small plastic lids in your black cart as garbage.

Tip: If the lid is smaller than the palm of your hand, it belongs in the garbage.

This includes:

Beer caps
Pop lids
Milk caps
Wine caps (including aluminum caps)
Bottle lids
Beverage lids
Why can't this be recycled?
Even if they are made from a recyclable material, caps are too small and light to be sorted properly by the sorting machines at the recycling facility and end up contaminating other recyclables.

http://www.calgary.ca/UEP/WRS/Pages/Wha ... -caps.aspx

The BC site:
https://recyclebc.ca/results/material/#!rc-page=120232

Plastic bottles and caps
For food, dish soap, mouthwash, shampoos, conditioners and other personal care products, pills and vitamins, laundry products, household cleaners, automotive cleaners, e.g., glass cleaner, windshield washer fluid etc.

Curbside Containers Recycling

This item can go in your container recycling if you receive curbside recycling collection.
...
Plastic bottles have screw caps or spray, pump or pull-up tops. Empty and rinse bottles. Labels OK. Remove caps, spray pump and pull-up tops, and place loose in recycling container.

Looks like we place the screw caps in, too,

But:
https://tnrd.civicweb.net/document/9196 :

Discard caps and flatten.

[Jlabute]

This article by Jon Manchester sounds alarming but is it really? " The report by the Ocean Legacy Foundation states that every day in B.C., more than one million beverage containers and 2.3 million beverage container caps are unaccounted for. They could end up in lakes, streams, the ocean, or simply be left as litter in the environment" they proclaim. Why did they leave out the landfill? How about people using them at home for storing things as well? How are they estimating this?

We should ask to see their math. I don't believe they have a way to account for these containers especially when using words like 'could'. Such language implies they took the worst make-belief scenario possible. Being from the "Ocean Legacy Foundation" which is a marine debris solutions company I bet they are looking for revenue streams. I am sure their numbers are biased. Most people do their recycling and if they don't there are 100 homeless that will do it for them. Recycling companies don't want the caps so I dispose of mine. How would they count the ones that are not recycled? Is the Ocean Legacy Foundation worried about the remaining bottle caps on the ground in Kelowna City?

[OKkayak]

As soon as I read the words "unaccounted for", for some reason, my inner voice went to:



And the whole story became so much more entertaining

Seriously though, yeah we do have a serious litter issue, there's no question about that, and to be honest, it doesn't take much thought or effort to clean up. I have a couple of Klean Kanteen travel mugs that I take to work or on the road, so my to go beverages go in there, as well as couple of stainless steel water bottles that I fill up with water on the road, which is free. The odd time I do buy a water bottle or paper cup for coffee (can't carry everything with you all the time), the trash goes into the recycling bins. If it truly gets recycled, I don't know, but I've done my part.

[twobits]

As soon as I read the words "unaccounted for", for some reason, my inner voice went to:



And the whole story became so much more entertaining

Seriously though, yeah we do have a serious litter issue, there's no question about that, and to be honest, it doesn't take much thought or effort to clean up. I have a couple of Klean Kanteen travel mugs that I take to work or on the road, so my to go beverages go in there, as well as couple of stainless steel water bottles that I fill up with water on the road, which is free. The odd time I do buy a water bottle or paper cup for coffee (can't carry everything with you all the time), the trash goes into the recycling bins. If it truly gets recycled, I don't know, but I've done my part.

Every over priced coffee vendor I have visited will rinse your travel mug and refill......many at a discount. Personally, I just stop at any 7/11 for coffee. Better straight up coffee than skybucks or Timothy's, always fresh, and only 50 cents for a refill of your travel mug......any size. No cups or lids in the environment from me. Heck, I even put my cream in first so I don't even use a stir stick.

[Merry]

Canadians like to pat themselves on the back for having good recycling programs.

But, according to the following article, much of the recycled stuff is shipped to third world countries, where it is not all being recycled. Some ends up in landfills, some is burned, and I wonder if some of it accounts for much of that plastic stuff that ends up in the ocean? (No proof of that as far as I know, but it is a possibility).
https://globalnews.ca/news/5199883/cana ... -programs/

Now, even those countries are starting to refuse to take our unwanted refuse. Which means that much of what we recycle, ends up in our landfills right here in Canada.

The point is that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". If we can't guarantee that the stuff we recycle is indeed going to be recycled, then we need to stop fooling ourselves and come up with a better solution.

The most obvious one being Government regulation to reduce unnecessary packaging, and to limit the manufacture (or import) of single use plastic items (such as disposable cups, knives and forks, plates, etc).

But will they do it? I doubt it, because that would affect the "bottom line" of the businesses that produce such and/or sell items.

Edit to add: I wonder if anyone has calculated the environmental effect of shipping all this stuff halfway around the world. Do they even take that into consideration when choosing this particular method of disposal?

[Catsumi]

Visit any thrift shop, anywhere at all. Chances are pretty good that there is an unlimited supply of forks, knives and spoons that can be carried in your private stashbag, together with embroidered table napkins. Recycle, wash and dry them.

Many styles of beverage containers too. I favor the cowboy cup, whose lasoo is twisted cunningly around his body acting as a straw. An eye catching fashion statement to call your own.

Space for that may be hard to find in your teeny electric car though.

[burnedatstake]

Is Canada’s recycling industry broken?

https://globalnews.ca/news/5199883/cana ... ce=980CKNW

[twobits]

Is Canada’s recycling industry broken?

https://globalnews.ca/news/5199883/cana ... ce=980CKNW

It's not broken......it was never a sound plan to begin with.

[GordonH]

Recycling appears to be in trouble, meanwhile some of that recycling we are doing still goes to landfills.
https://globalnews.ca/news/5199883/cana ... -programs/

[Brushy Bill]

My family will get serious about recycling when the system gets serious. So far the returns are a net loss , all taken out of the taxpayers pockets. Life is easier without sorting garbage thanks

[twobits]

My family will get serious about recycling when the system gets serious. So far the returns are a net loss , all taken out of the taxpayers pockets. Life is easier without sorting garbage thanks

Yup. I think the age old adage is we are just pizzing in the wind. Stupid. Yet we rinse containers, remove caps, separate paper.....and for what for that effort? See much of end up in the landfill anyway because the price is to low for the product to ship it anywhere. And it is not going to get better unless packaging changes.
We are friggen hamsters in a wheel putting on miles and going nowhere. When there is a true and smart recycle program, sign me up. Until then, I won't waste much time except for the obvious valuable recycle materials.

[Brushy Bill]

And just where do all those water bottles come from to begin with?
Since when is buying water the thing to do?
ask a group why they buy water instead of drinking from the tap, and there are numerous answers none of which can truly be justified when weighed against the negatives.. Marketing at its finest , sheeple brainwashed