Grande Prairie residents with pizza boxes in their recycling won’t have their blue bags picked up starting next month. Prairie North Disposal first announced the ban in late January, and now says it will be enforced starting April 2nd.
The curbside recycling collectors say they will no longer take anything with grease or food particles, as their margin for contamination has been reduced significantly. It follows China’s plastic waste import ban at the beginning of 2018.
“Global recycling markets are becoming more stringent, so in turn, we need to be strict in enforcing these rules as they are coming directly from our buyers,” explains recycling coordinator Tammy Savidan.
Aquatera says residents need to make sure all of their recycling is clean and dry before it heads to the curb. Anything that has had food or grease soaked into it should be thrown out.
Any blue bags that are contaminated will be tagged with a warning and not picked up. If the offending items are removed, Prairie North will collect the bags.