Park commissioner Sarah Blythe and mayor Gregor Robertson were at Kits Beach this morning to help Encorp Pacific launch a new pilot program designed to encourage even greater beverage container recycling in Vancouver.
The program – the first of its kind in British Columbia – launched today with the installation of 60 new beverage container recycling bins at high-traffic Vancouver beaches: including Kits Beach, Sunset Beach, English Bay, and Second Beach at Stanley Park, as well as on Commercial Drive between Venables Street and 13th Avenue.
“By partnering with Encorp and working with the local binning community, we’re making a smart investment to make it easier and more convenient for the public to recycle,” said Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. “Our goal is to reduce Vancouver’s waste going to landfills by 50 per cent by 2020, and by expanding beverage recycling in high-traffic areas like our beaches and Commercial Drive, we’re taking another step to keep bottles and cans off our streets and out of our landfills.”
The Beverage Container Recycling Pilot is a partnership between Encorp Pacific, the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, and provides additional recycling options for Vancouver’s citizens and visitors. United We Can, a downtown organization which promotes the collection of recyclables, and the Commercial Drive Business Improvement Association were consulted and support the initiative. The new bins can carry up to an estimated 288 aluminum cans or 150 plastic bottles each.
At the conclusion of the one year pilot program, project partners will determine whether to keep the receptacles in their piloted locations permanently or explore expanding the network of bins to additional areas of the city. The pilot program in Vancouver will also serve as a model for potential future Encorp receptacle placements in other B.C. municipalities.
Last modified: August 15, 2012
