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Little improvement in compliance for companies owing recycling fees

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Nearly two years after a new organization was put in charge of collecting recyclables across the province, dozens of companies still refuse to pay their dues to the organization.

Back in October, the Ministry of Environment told NEWS 1130 roughly 200 companies had not paid their fees to Multi-Material BC. Six months later, the compliance rate has barely changed, a situation that was confirmed by MMBC’s Allen Langdon.

The ministry continues to say it is “aggressively pursuing compliance from ‘freeriding’ producers.”

Those freeriders, says Langdon, are mainly large national and regional chains, food processors, manufacturers and…

“The newspaper industry. It probably single-handedly represents the largest group of non-compliant stewards. It’s very obvious to see how much waste material they generate. Right now all that material is being collected yet they don’t pay fees on it.”

He says it has created an unlevel playing field.

“If you’re paying the fees and you are under provincial statute fulfilling your obligations, but you find out your competitor is not, that is obviously frustrating.”

The shortage of fees is preventing MMBC from expanding to other cities that want the service, like Mission, Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Kamloops.

Newspapers have argued they can’t afford the millions of dollars the fees would add up to, putting them at risk of shutting down.

Incidentally, MMBC has announced it will take on responsibility of collecting Vancouver curbside recyclables starting this fall. Smithrite will pick up recyclables from single-family homes while Waste Management has been awarded the contract to pick up recyclables from apartments and condos.

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