People have grown accustomed to recycling, but lots of mistakes continue to wind up in the blue carts. To help sort it all-out, we met with Cynthia Coates from the Central Okanagan Regional District's Waste Reduction office for a refresher. 

"They've got everything loose in here," said Coates as we looked at the contents of a recycling cart. "That's good. We don't want to see anything bagged." People often make the mistake of putting recyclables in clear bags inside the cart. 

Another common problem is soft plastic packaging, like the wrapper from a granola bar or a shopping bag. Those are recyclable, but they're not welcome in the blue bins. Those you need to take them to the depot yourself. 

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"Lots of people think any kind of plastic can go in and that's no true," said Coates. "It needs to be packaging plastic." For example, a plastic salad dressing bottle can be rinsed and put in the blue bin, but not Tupperware.

Pizza boxes (if not too greasy) are okay. "This is a really common one we're seeing in recycling," she added, pointing to another example, "paper towels, not recyclable."

Photo credit: NowMedia

Since 2014, people in the Central Okanagan have been able to recycle styrofoam, along with glass, it falls into the category that you need to take to the depot yourself. 

For a detailed list of what's recyclable, and what should and shouldn't go into your recycling cart, click here.