VICTORIA -The Province has officially proclaimed Oct. 17-23 as Waste Reduction Week, which is aimed at raising public awareness about the importance of recycling, Environment Minister Terry Lake announced.

"Waste Reduction Week provides a way to get more people thinking about the waste they produce and efforts they can take to reduce the flow of material into landfills, said Lake. "Recycling is an action that just makes sense because it significantly reduces GHG emissions."

B.C. is a worldwide leader in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Programs, where producers of products take 100 per cent responsibility for the life cycle management of their products, including collection and recycling. Programs range from automobile antifreeze to cellphones, from lead acid batteries to small appliances and lights.

"Recycling plastics, paper and drink bottles is a common practice, but sometimes people need time to adjust and change their habits," said Brock Macdonald, executive director of the Recycling Council of BC. "To recycle certain products and to reach our goals we need to think about the waste we generate. Recycling is an easy and cost-effective way to reduce waste."

B.C.'s latest EPR program is the Small Appliances Recycling Program administered by the Canadian Electrical Stewardship Association. As of Oct. 1, small appliances such as toasters, coffee makers and vacuums can be returned and recycled for free to authorized drop-off locations to be managed responsibly by industry. The program is the largest of its kind to date in B.C. and the first of its kind in North America.

In May 2011, the Province regulated packaging and printed paper, and by May 2014 a provincewide program for these materials is planned to be in place. Packaging and printed paper comprises approximately 25 per cent of the waste disposed in landfills.

Quick Facts:

• The reduction of GHG emissions through the recycling of beer containers is equivalent to taking 13,000 cars off the road.
• One drop of oil contaminates one million drops of clean of water. The oil recycled in B.C. in 2010 was equivalent to 18 Olympic-size swimming pools.
• The volume of product collected through the Electronic Stewardship Association is equivalent to 26,000 cars or 7,000 orca whales.

Learn more:

To find out more, go to the Recycling Council of British Columbia website: www.rcbc.bc.ca

Contact:

Suntanu Dalal
Communications
Ministry of Environment
250 387-9745