Kirsten Larsen
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 04/98) - Residents may need a few reminders about the city's recycling program, not because they aren't recycling enough, but because some are incorrect in their recycling habits.

The city's bailing manager, Dave Neufeld said that although the recycling bins in the Co-op parking lot are being used more than bins in other areas, he is noticing some confusion from users in the area.

Neufeld said the mistakes being made by users regarding the bins is more than usual. A considerable quantity of aluminum pop cans are being dropped into the tin can bins making it difficult to sort.

"I don't know if they are doing it on purpose or if they don't know," said Neufeld. "There aren't any tin cans in the pop bins though."

Correcting the mistakes are time consuming for recycling attendants at the city's waste management and bailing facility. The recycling products that are bailed for sale can only have up to 10 per cent non-recyclable product in them.

Another mistake that is continuously being made has created confusion amongst some of the recycling attendants. So many people leave the labels on tin cans and bottles that one attendant didn't know it was an improper recycling practice.

Neufeld said while some people don't comply with the rule of removing labels and rinsing the items out, others go to extremes.

"Some are putting the cans in the dishwasher, which sort of defeats the whole purpose of conservation," said Neufeld. "Just rinsing them is good enough."

The city's newest addition of a plastic milk carton recycling bin out at the landfill is being used more frequently, but Neufeld said some people may not know about it yet. It takes up to three months to gather enough containers to bail the product, so the more people recycle, the faster the city will see a return on the product.

The city does not have a program for recycling milk cartons or glossy cardboard, such as cereal boxes, but if the plastic milk carton recycling program gains enough response, there could be more funding to start other programs up.

The recycling program is helping to sustain the landfill, but it will take more than people recycling to keep the landfill "healthy".

Neufeld said people are dumping automobile batteries in the landfill with disregard to the signs. The site does accept batteries but, as with the recycling bins, the batteries have a designated dumping place as well.