City of Regina survey finds only 28% of residents recycled the right material

Of the 2,000 recycling carts surveyed by the City of Regina, only 560 had the right material recycled.

This fall, the city sent out its CartSmart team to study the recycling habits of residents. The purpose was to encourage the proper sorting of materials and find common recycling mistakes.

The remaining 72 per cent of carts surveyed received an ‘oops’ sticker, indicating wrong items were found in residents’ recycling carts.

The most common recycling mistake made was putting plastic bags and plastic wrap in a blue bin.

Other items found in recycling carts that shouldn’t be there were chip and cereal bags, zipper pouches, coat hangers, Styrofoam, napkins, paper towels, waxed paper cups and plastic products without the No. 1 to No. 7 symbol.

The city’s director of water, waste and environmental services said the program was a good way to recognize recycling habits of residents.

“Residents have told us that they would recycle more if they were more confident about what can and can’t go in the recycling cart,” Pat Wilson said. “Residents were very receptive to the program and eager to learn.”

The study found 36 per cent of carts to receive an ‘oops’ sticker had improvements when the CartSmart team returned.

To see what items can be recycled in your blue bin, check out the city’s Waste Wizard tool online.