The City would like to remind residents that metal items including pots, pans, propane tanks and metal from any sort of residential or automotive parts cannot be placed in your home recycling carts.
These count as contamination and can cause an entire batch of recycling to end up in the landfill. According to the latest Recycle BC audit data, the number of metal items incorrectly placed into home recycling carts tripled from 0.3 per cent in 2022 to 1 per cent in 2023.
“Unfortunately, any metal items placed in curbside recycling carts will end up in the landfill, also contaminating the batch of recycling,” says Sustainability Coordinator Madison Poultney. “Also, items such as propane and helium tanks pose a serious safety risk to collection drivers and staff at the Material Recovery Facility. We hope that by raising awareness of this problem, residents will think twice before placing any types of metal items into their recycling carts.”
The best way to help prevent the hazards and contamination from scrap metal at home is to instead take it to the following locations:
Action Steel Sales Recycle various forms of scrap metal including aluminum, appliances, batteries, copper wire and stainless scrap. 2356 Barnes Street Ph: 250-492-7822 or visit actionsteel.ca Starline Salvage & Metals This locally owned and operated business is dedicated to scrap metal recycling. 719 Okanagan Ave E. Ph: 250-492-0640 or visit starlinesalvage.weebly.com
Campbell Mountain Landfill Drop off your pots and pans, metal cutlery and utensils, and any metal scraps including those from residential or automotive parts. 1765 Reservoir Road Ph: 250-490-4129 or visit rdos.bc.ca/campbell-mountain
Penticton’s goal is to lower the community’s recycling contamination rate from 8 per cent to 6 per cent or lower by the end of this year. For more information about recycling, or for more tips about what goes where, visit penticton.ca/recycling.