Rural communities lobby provincial government to fund recycling programs

Recycling has become commonplace in many Canadian towns, but for small, rural communities, it isn't easy. 

In McBride, B.C., the only product that can be recycled is cardboard. That means glass, plastics, aluminum cans and other paper products go into the landfill. But because of the small tax base in the village of 600 people, there is no way the village can fund a recycling program on its own. 

For the past three years, village Coun. Rosemary Hruby has taken concerns around recycling in rural communities such as McBride to the Union of BC Municipalities convention, asking for provincial funding to have recyclable products other than cardboard accepted by McBride's regional transfer station. 

"I'm aware that the ability to offer curbside pickup of recyclable materials is totally outside the realm of possibility," Hruby told Daybreak North host Carolina de Ryk. "But the ability to have our local transfer station accept and handle all recyclable materials should not be."

The reason the transfer station does not currently accept anything other than cardboard is because of the distance those products would have to travel to get to a recycling facility, and the costs associated with that.  

McBride doesn't have its own landfill; all the village's waste is sent to the dump in Prince George. 

"Recycling is going to cost," Hruby said. "But it can't be as expensive as hauling everything to Prince George."

Other small municipalities agree with this idea; when Hruby brought it up at the North Central Local Government Association's convention in May, asking for provincial funding was unanimously supported. 

"There aren't any quick fixes or easy answers, but we'll continue to bring on the conversation and we'll continue to make recycling be top of mind for the government, and hopefully, it'll be a reality someday for all areas of the province and particularly in McBride," Hruby said.