Milk Bottles, Cartons Suffer Reycling Woes

Sarcan Recycling is hoping to improve the rate of return on plastic milk jugs and milk cartons, as recycling efforts in this area continue to fall short.

"The key to the whole program is that it's voluntary, and as a result the participation levels are lower," said Ken Homenick, director of operations for Sarcan, a non-profit recycling agency with 71 depots around the province.

Although consumers pay a modest environmental fee on milk jugs and cartons, they don't get any money back for recycling them. And while people seem willing to recycle materials like newspaper and cardboard without a cash incentive, Homenick says they aren't doing the same with milk jugs and cartons. Right now, Sarcan sees only about 38 percent of milk jugs and 12 percent of cartons returned for recycling. On average, about 50 percent of newspapers are recycled.

The return on drink containers that pay is much higher. Aluminum pop cans are seeing a 92-percent rate of return, plastic pop cans about 88 percent and glass containers about 82 percent.

In Regina, milk cartons and jugs can only be recycled at Sarcan depots or through curbside recycling programs.

Dwight Mercer, head of the recycling program for the City of Regina, says milk jugs and cartons often get tossed into the city's Big Blue Bins and have to be removed.

He says the city is "as fully committed as we can be" to recycling, and adds his department has been trying to promote waste minimization and encourage the public to be more responsible about how much they consume.

"Recycling is actually the last option and the most expensive.

Recycling is a last resort," he says, adding people are encouraged to buy less, and try to pass on items to others rather than throwing them away.

"People say 'I recycle so much, isn't that great?' and it is, but are you also buying more than you need?"

Homenick says he hopes to see an increase in the number of people recycling their milk jugs and cartons, which will save valuable landfill space and conserve resources.

"A milk jug could come back in three months time as an antifreeze container," he said. "There is a demand for that material." - The Leader-Post (Regina)