City of Toronto inspecting blue bins to see if you're recycling
Are you a bad recycler? If so, it might be time to clean up your act because the city of Toronto is about to dispatch the recycling police to ensure that residents are using their blue bins properly.
As the Toronto Star reports, Solid Waste Management officials will be checking to make sure residents are putting the right items in their recycling bins and possibly charging a small fee if contraband is spotted.
Sweet little notices were sent out last month (and probably thrown on top of a pile somewhere) that give a rundown on the impacts of improper recycling.
#toronto #Recycle #recycleright pic.twitter.com/EWPsgxCv87
— Alex Southey (@AlexSouthey) December 11, 2017
Each year, the city estimates that around 52,000 tons of materials unfit to be recycled is sent to the landfill because it improperly tossed into people's blue bins.
26% of Toronto recycling bins are contaminated with non-recyclable materials. Costs a lot. City could save $600K per year per percentage point reduction. pic.twitter.com/z9b9TXGta0
— Matt Elliott (@GraphicMatt) December 8, 2017
Dealing with contaminated recycling comes at a cost of about $10 million per year to the city and subsequently the taxpayers.
Jim McKay... I ❤ this #toronto #waste #waste360 #recycle pic.twitter.com/rzUAIpzwtd
— N.S. (@BarFly999) December 7, 2017
The new program is all part of an effort to educate the public on proper waste management, which can ultimately reduce landfill usage and save the city money.
And hopefully help the planet out a bit, too.
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