Recycle BC

08/21/2026

⚠️ Batteries and other hazardous items need to be dropped off at specialized locations for special handling, and can otherwise cause serious fires at receiving facilities (when wrongfully placed in household recycling or garbage).

Batteries, propane canisters, electronics, flammable liquids and other hazardous materials can all cause fires and put recycling staff and facilities at serious risk.

❌ Keep hazardous items out of your recycling.
✅ Take them to a designated drop-off location for safe recycling or disposal.

📍 Search the following items by location & find out where to take them at:
RecycleBC.ca/Hazardous

-Batteries
-Propane canisters
-Needles
-Flammable liquids
-Helium tanks
-Knives
-Cell phones and laptops (lithium-ion batteries)
-Toys with batteries
-Butane canisters
-Bear spray
-Ammunition
-Flares
-Electronics
-Batteries for e-cigarettes
-Lighters and matches
-Household batteries
-Paint

Help keep recycling safe for everyone. ♻️

08/17/2026

In light of the province declaring a state of emergency last week, due to the increasingly severe wildfire situation across the province, our team has been diligently reaching out to local partners in affected regions as necessary to assess the impact on operations, including road closures, access limitations, and any potential impacts on recycling collection or transportation services.

Updates may be delayed due to the evolving situation and we thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this time. Above all else, please stay safe.

Information on wildfire status & resources:

• BC Wildfire Map
• Emergency Info BC
• Drive BC
• Fire Smoke forecast
• River Forecast Center

Reminders for all in emergency preparedness:

• have a grab-and-go bag
• keep important documents accessible
• sign up for local emergency alerts
• know your evacuation route
• plan for pets/livestock if relevant

08/05/2026

♻️ AUGUST: Pop-Up Recycling Depot Events! ♻️

We partner with communities that have limited access to recycling depots to bring Pop-Up Depot events closer to residents, helping ensure more people have convenient access to recycle flexible plastics and foam packaging.

With our amazing community partners who help host and operate these events on the ground, together, we're working toward the same goal: making recycling more accessible, recovering more valuable materials and helping keep BC beautiful for generations to come.

Accepted for drop off:

✔️ Foam packaging
✔️ Flexible plastics
✔️ Mixed paper & cardboard
✔️ Glass bottles & jars

Free drop-off, no limit!
Residential materials only.

Upcoming August Pop-up Depot Dates & Locations:

📍 Parksville - 1080 Industrial Way
August 8 & 22, 2026 - 10am-3pm

📍 Lumby - 2230 Shields Avenue
August 8, 2026 - 10am-2pm

📍 Quadra Island Recycling Depot - 657 Industrial Way
August 7-10 & August 21-24, 2026 - 9am-3pm

📍 Vancouver - King George Secondary School (City of Vancouver Reuse & Recycling Pop-Up)
August 22, 2026 - 10am-1pm

Bring your materials for drop-off. Every effort counts!

For more details, visit:
RecycleBC.ca/PopUp

07/31/2026

⛺ Heading camping this long weekend? Help keep BC beautiful by packing out what you pack in.

Many common camping items can be recycled when you get home, whether through your curbside collection, a Recycle BC depot, participating London Drugs locations or, in communities where available, your pink bin for Flexible Plastics.

Common camping recyclables include:

✅ Containers
• Large disposable plastic beverage jugs (water, juice, soda etc.)
• Aluminum food trays & kitchen foil

✅ Glass
• Pickle jars

✅ Flexible Plastics
• Marshmallow & graham cracker bags
• Flexible wet wipe packaging
• Chip bags
• Bread bags (sandwich bread bags, burger bun bags, hot dog bun bags, bagel bags etc.)
• Instant noodle & granola bar wrappers
• Salad bags
• Beverage flat overwrap (from cases of water or soda)
• Paper towel overwrap (toilet paper overwrap too)
• Freeze-dried meal pouches (without paper layers)

❌ Not accepted
• Garlic bread bags (most contain paper layers)
• Flexible plastic 6-pack rings

💡 Camping tip: Before you head out, find a Recycle BC depot or participating London Drugs location along your route home so recycling is one less thing to think about after your trip.

Find your nearest depot: RecycleBC.ca/Depot

See more camping recycling tips: RecycleBC.ca/Camping

07/31/2026

Wildfire Update: Ongoing wildfires may affect access to some recycling depots and their hours of operation. Before visiting a depot, check with your local depot for the latest hours and service updates. Stay safe.

07/29/2026

🚫Myth:
"It all gets shipped overseas anyway"

🧐Fact:
In 2025, end markets for residential plastic, paper, metal and glass collected and managed by Recycle BC were as follows:

♻️ Plastic:
99.5% of materials were sent to recycling end markets in BC.

♻️Paper:
53%* of materials were sent to recycling end markets in North America.

♻️Metal:
100% of materials were sent to recycling end markets in North America.

♻️Glass:
100% of materials were sent to recycling end markets in BC.

*Due to shifts in market demand for recycled materials, domestic mills were unable to accommodate the increased volume of paper shipped from Recycle BC, resulting in a small increase in material going to international markets.

Paper end markets not in North America are in: India, Laos, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam and are visited and verified by our post-collection team.

📑Visit RecycleBC.ca/Annual-Reports to learn more.

07/22/2026

Sunscreen keeps you protected, so let’s make sure the packaging is protected from ending up in landfills too. In BC, many sunscreen containers (like plastic bottles) are recyclable as containers once they’re fully emptied. When in doubt, check the Recycle BC “What Can I Recycle?” list for plastic containers and other accepted container types.

☝️ Use it up: Squeeze, pump, or tap out what you can—containers should be as empty as possible before recycling. This helps the workers handling and processing materials because the cleaner the materials, the better the entire system works.

✌️ Remove caps/pumps: Take off lids, caps, and pumps and place them loose with other containers.

👌 Empty & Rinse: The cleaner the containers, the more efficiently the items can be recycled and recovered. Rinse when you can to help folks downstream handling your materials.

We’re working on expanding the types of containers we can accept, but adding new materials isn’t as simple as “it’s plastic, so it’s recyclable.” Each item must be tested with our recycling partners to make sure it can be sorted and recycled properly in current systems.

At the same time, we’re working with brands and manufacturers to improve packaging design, opting for more recyclable materials and mono-material packaging over multi-material packaging, which is challenging to recycle because it cannot easily be separated at scale.

For the most up-to-date list of accepted Containers, see:
RecycleBC.ca/Containers

07/14/2026

🚫 MYTH:
"It all just gets burned anyway"

🧐 FACT:
Total tonnes managed: 218,572
Tonnes recycled: 206,756
Tonnes incinerated: 0

📑 Visit RecycleBC.ca/Annual-Reports to learn more.

In 2025, Recycle BC collected and managed over 200,000 tonnes of residential packaging and paper, resulting in a recovery (collection/capture) rate of

07/07/2026

♻️ PARKSVILLE BC: Drop off your depot recyclables at one of the popup depot event dates - New dates have been released! ♻️

Recycle BC hosts Pop-Up Depot events in communities with limited access to recycling depots, making it easier for residents to recycle more materials.

Accepted for drop off:
✔️ Foam packaging
✔️ Flexible plastics
✔️ Mixed paper & cardboard
✔️ Glass bottles & jars

Free drop-off, no limit.
Residential materials only.

Location:
📍 1080 Industrial Way, Parksville BC
🕙 10:00 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Upcoming Dates:
- Saturday, July 11, 2026
- Saturday, July 25, 2026
- Saturday, August 8, 2026
- Saturday, August 22, 2026
- Saturday, September 12, 2026
- Saturday, September 26, 2026
- Saturday, October 10, 2026
- Saturday, October 24, 2026
- Saturday, November 7, 2026
- Saturday, November 21, 2026
- Saturday, December 5, 2026
- Saturday, December 19, 2026

👉 More dates at:
RecycleBC.ca/PopUp

07/01/2026

🍁 This Canada Day, we’re reflecting on what’s possible when provinces come together to collaborate on the future of circularity.

From harmonized ecodesign work to stronger recycling end markets closer to home, partnership helps move better packaging and better recycling forward.

♻️ NORTH AMERICAN END MARKETS

Through a concentrated effort, and with detailed chain of custody reporting, Recycle BC has shifted most of our recycling end market locations from overseas recyclers to North American recyclers, keeping materials much closer to home.

♻️ PLASTIC RECYCLING

Did you know? Over 90% of plastic collected from BC residents is sent to recycling end markets to be made into plastic pellets for new products and packaging. Of that, 99.5% goes to recyclers in BC.

♻️ HARMONIZATION OF ECO PACKAGING DESIGN ACROSS CANADA

For the first time in Canada, five producer responsibility organizations – Circular Materials, Éco Entreprises Québec, Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba, SK Recycles and Recycle BC – are collaborating to develop ecodesign guidelines to support greater recyclability of packaging and paper products.

This initiative marks a major step towards a harmonized national framework that will provide clear guidance to thousands of producers who market their goods in more than one province or territory across Canada.

🍁 Learn more at: RecycleBC.ca/CanadaDay2026