Why does the Region not accept all plastics in the Blue Box?
Not all plastics have a stable market to sell the material for recycling. Some plastics have issues with processing them at the recycling centre. When the Region accepts a material in the Blue Box, we want to make sure that we will be able to sell that material for recycling and that it won’t cause problems at the recycling plant. For example, plastic bags get caught in the machinery and conveyor belts, clear plastic containers can be made from different types of plastics and it can be difficult for the people sorting the material to determine what type of plastic it is just by looking at it. The Region continuously monitors updates in the recycling industry and will add new materials to the Blue Box as we feel that it will be economically and technically viable to recycle the material.
