Comox Strathcona Waste Management Unstaffed Recycling Depots in Comox and Campbell River are Now Closed
The Comox Strathcona Waste Management (CSWM) unstaffed recycling depots located at the Sportsplex in Campbell River and the Canex Retail Store in Comox are permanently closed, effective July 1, 2021.
There are excellent alternative options for recycling in these communities, and residents are encouraged to instead utilize their municipal curbside recycling service for those who have access, or to drop off recyclables at one of the local Return-It depots or at either of the waste management centres in the region. These depot facilities are all supported by Recycle BC and accept any materials that are accepted at the closing unstaffed depots, as well as glass, plastic bags, outer wrap and foam packaging.
Click on the images to view maps of nearby recycling depots
“These unstaffed depots have unfortunately been targets for illegal dumping for years, and just don’t reflect the standard of service that we would like to see with our waste management service,” said Vivian Schau, Senior Manager of CSWM Services. “We want to uphold a great standard for recycling in our area, and luckily there are a number of Recycle BC supported options in our communities that allows us to recycle more items, in an effective and responsible manner with full transparency.”
These Recycle BC supported locations include Return-It depots at 1580 Willow St., Campbell River; 493 Puntledge Road, Courtenay; 678 Anderton Road. Comox; as well as the Campbell River and Comox Valley Waste Management Centres.
The two remaining CSWM depots (Quadra Island and Oyster River) will remain open as they are rural and provide the only local option for recycling in those areas.
While the unstaffed CSWM depots did not accept glass, plastic bags, outer wrap or foam packaging, these items can all be sorted at the Return-It depots and both waste management centres in the region. Not only do these locations accept more streams of recyclable materials as part of the Recycle BC program, normal practice is for monitoring to occur during the recycling process. Staff are present to observe and correct sorting errors, and educate the public. By using these programs, residents ensure that their material is actually recycled and will therefore be diverting a larger volume of material than if continuing to use the CSWM depots. For depot locations near you visit: www.cswm.ca/depots.
Residents within municipal boundaries have even more options for recycling thanks to curbside collection. Through previous customer surveys, the CSWM learned that the vast majority of users of the CSWM depots live within municipal boundaries and have access to full, unlimited curbside recycling collection, which includes all of the same materials accepted at the existing CSWM depots.
These unstaffed depots experienced a high level of contamination of otherwise recyclable materials. Of the approximately 1,800 tonnes of material collected from the CSWM depots in 2018, 18 per cent was contaminated with garbage, including household and commercial garbage, furniture, lightbulbs, appliances, yard waste, dog feces, fish guts, motor oil and paint. This high level of contamination not only meant that a large portion of otherwise recyclable materials could no longer be recycled and ends up in the landfill, but it also created a safety issue for people who use the site and the staff that have to manage the contaminated waste. More frequent pickups at these facilities would not solve the problem of high levels of contamination.
