Despite a lot of confusion, Regional District of Nanaimo zero waste co-ordinator Jeff Ainge said new recycling regulations won't change a whole lot for residents.
"Within the RDN people shouldn't see a great deal of change at all," said Ainge. "We have the same collection contractors, scheduled (pick-up) days, blue box and yellow bag."
On May 19 Multi-Material B.C. launched in an effort to meet the province-wide mandate which sees firms that distribute packaging waste pay the cost of recycling it.
Ainge said under the new MMBC program, residents will see more curbside opportunities to recycle a wider array of items such as milk cartons, foam containers and packaging, plant pots, aluminum foil packaging and certain types of plastic film packaging and drink cups. Residents living within municipalities and rural areas will experience the same residential curbside collection benefits.
Additionally, he said drop-off depots are also accepting more products such as styrofoam cushion packaging, plastic bags and glass containers.
"It's just a case of having to refresh our memory and (recycling) habits," said Ainge, adding MMBC has standardized curbside recycling across the province bringing the service to a number of smaller communities that didn't have it before. Ainge said a lot of smaller towns in northern Vancouver Island are benefiting from the program as well as cities like Prince George and Quesnel who didn't have blue box recycling in place beforehand.
"We're being made aware of how much waste we generate," said Ainge, noting this program is a "positive step forward" in reducing our carbon footprint.
For a full list of items now accepted in curbside collection and at drop-off depots visit www.recycling2014.ca.