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November 19, 2021 - 1:30 PM
The floods and blocked highways have forced Recycle B.C. to stop, as of next Monday, collecting glass and foam products from throughout the province.
“Our primary glass end-market is, right now, under water in Abbotsford,” Dave Lefebvre, director of public affairs, west, for Recycle B.C. told iNFOnews.ca.
That means, even if trucks could get from the Interior to the Lower Mainland, they couldn’t get to the glass plant.
Some of the foam is sent to Lower Mainland companies but some goes overseas and, right now, it can’t be shipped out.
Most communities have depots that accept glass and foam. Some require residents to drop off their material at the depots but others have curbside collection, Lefebvre said.
Both Regional District of Central Okanagan and Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen are asking residents to store these materials at home until service resumes. The Central Okanagan regional district says more restrictions may be in play depending on how long the closures last.
Other recycling products are being accepted since they can be packaged and stored more easily than glass, but that may change as time goes on.
There's no timeline on how long the glass and foam ban will last.
“The flooding has affected the availability of trucks for hauling materials so that’s obviously creating a lot of challenges because, even if routes are open, there’s a shortage of transportation vehicles,” Lefebvre said. “Obviously, it’s a situation that’s evolving and we’re working around the clock to try to find avenues to make sure materials can continue to be collected.”
READ MORE: The latest on B.C.'s recovery from flooding, mudslides
— This story was updated at 3:51 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, to say the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen is also impacted.
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