Sort’nGo Tips for Sorting

We're gearing up for the first week of our new organics collection service in Port Alberni starting Sept 13th, 2021–with some updates to recycling and waste!

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when sorting/placing waste in the new carts:

Recycling:

• All items must be clean and loose inside the cart. Do not bag or nest items in the cart - place them inside the cart individually.
• Excess material placed outside the cart will not be collected - please ensure that the cart is closed and there is no overflow.
• Cardboard should be broken down so it doesn't jam the hopper inside the trucks and large pieces should be placed vertically in the cart.
• Items such as hazardous materials, plastic bags, overwrap and foam packaging cannot be disposed of in your recycling cart. Please continue to take these materials to the Recycle BC depots for disposal.
• Hardcover and softcover books cannot be included in blue carts. Please consider donating reading items to reuse centres.
• Shredded paper can be placed in a clear plastic bag inside your blue recycling cart (do not use coloured or opaque garbage bags). This will make it easy to pull and sort off the line at the post collection facility. All other items in the blue cart should be left loose.

Organics:

• Include of all food scraps (even those not suitable to backyard composting like meat, bones and dairy) as well as soiled papers (think greasy pizza boxes!)
• Include yard waste like grass clippings, leaves and branches but please note the maximum length for branches in the cart is 24 inches, or two feet, with a two-inch diameter. This is to ensure that material can get through the truck's “hopper” system.
• Do not include Invasive weeds (those common to the area are Japanese Knotweed, Giant Knotweed, Bohemian Knotweed, Himalayan Knotweed, Purple Loosetrife, Yellow Flag Iris and blackberry bushes). These should be disposed of in the garbage. See a full list of invasives on the BC Government website.
• Do not include pet feces in your organics cart, this should be disposed of in the garbage.
• Do not put 'compostable' plastic bags in the green cart.
• Only paper bags and newspaper can be used to line the green cart and the "kitchen buddy".
• Lining your cart with newspaper or cardboard can help items such as food waste and wet grass clipping from sticking to the bottom of the cart.

Garbage:

• Excess garbage bags that do not fit in the cart will not be collected.