Glass causes havoc for the curbside recycling program. The glass jars break when the recycle truck dumps your bin into the truck. It creates a broken glass mess for the sorting staff. Please help keep our staff safe by recycling your glass at the recycling depot not at the curb.
Plastic bags dropped off at the recycling depot are baled together and shipped directly to Merlin Plastics in Delta, BC where they are shredded and turned into new products. The curbside blue bin material is different because it’s mixed. It can’t go directly to the mill. It must first go to a sorting facility where the newspaper, office paper, boxboard, plastics #1, #2, #3, #4, etc are all separated. Once sorted, each material is baled and send to various mills to be turned into new products. As you can imagine it’s really difficult to sort curbside material with plastic bags in it. The bags wrap around conveyor belts, clog screens and cause all sorts of equipment problems. On top of that, bags are a major hazard for our employees. They hide needles, hazardous items, bear spray, propane bottles, etc. All these items pose a major safety risk for our staff and our equipment.
Styrofoam causes havoc for the curbside recycling program. When the recycle truck dumps your bin, it squishes the recycling to make it fit into the truck. When Styrofoam gets squished, it crumbles into little pieces. Imagine dumping a box of packing peanuts in your curbside bin and then trying to pick out each peanut. Not easy right! Now imagine that times 7000 houses in FSJ. Almost impossible! Recycle your Styrofoam right… drop it off at the recycling depot instead!
Cardboard looks like a paper sandwich with wavy ridges in between, whereas Boxboard looks like a thick piece of paper (no wavy ridges). Compare an Amazon cardboard box to a cereal box. The Amazon box is Cardboard; the cereal box is boxboard.
Yes! Pizza boxes are recyclable in your curbside bin or at the depot in the “Cardboard Bin”.
No! Please try to remove your lids before recycling your glass jars. The lids can be recycled in your curbside bin or at the depot in the “Containers Bin”.
Plastic bags and flexible packaging are now one category called Flexible Plastics. No more separating your shopping bags from your candy bar wrappers! Stretchy and crinkly plastics can now be mixed together. Flexible plastics includes things like coffee bags, dog food bags and candy bar wrappers.
To test if your plastic is a Flexible Plastic, do the “baseball test”… if you can ball the plastic up in your hand like a baseball, it’s Flexible Plastic. If it doesn’t ball up into your hand, it’s Hard Plastic.
Everything we accept at the depot is FREE to drop off. We even pay you money for car batteries!
Visit our City Pickup Schedules page to find a collection calendar for your city.
Yes and No! The all-plastic envelopes are accepted at the depot in the “Flexible Plastics Bin”. Please do not put them in your curbside recycling bin.
Unfortunately, the paper envelopes with plastic bubble wrap lining are not recyclable and should be placed in your household garbage bin.
The share shed is located at the North Peace Landfill (7014 269 Road). It is open Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 5:45 pm.
Yes! We accept water coolers for FREE at the Fort St John recycling depot. Drop your water cooler off inside the main depot building. Place it on the orange Electronics cart.
No! We are not a bottle depot, so we cannot pay refunds for beverage containers. If you just want to recycle your bottles, place them into the “Containers Bin”.
No! There are more than 200 different types of plastic, and we accept the 7 most common types used. If your container doesn’t have a symbol, we don’t know what type of plastic it is. If your container doesn’t have a recycling symbol, please check with us before recycling.
Yes! In BC, there is a $0.10 refund for ready-to-drink milk and milk substitute containers (almond, oat, soy, etc). Return milk containers to your local bottle depot to receive your deposit refund.
Shredded paper must be bagged and tied shut in a clear or blue bag. It is accepted in your curbside bin or at the depot in the “Paper Bin”.
Yes! We accept clothes hangers for recycling at the curb and at the recycling depot.
Plastic hangers can be put in your curbside recycling bin at home, or in the Containers Bin at the recycling depot. Metal hangers are accepted at the recycling depot in the Scrap Metal bin.
No! We only accept “Miscellaneous Items” including electronics during business hours. This ensures the items stay clean and dry, and we can monitor what is being dropped off.
Yes! We recycle anything that is made of 75% or more metal in the Scrap Metal bin.
Yes! We recycle VHS tapes as well as CDs, DVDs and cassette tapes. Recycle them inside the depot and place them onto the “Electronics Cart”.
We do not accept pens, markers or crayons for recycling, but Staples does! They have a bin located at the back of the store near the bathrooms for all writing tools.
We do not accept ink cartridges for recycling, but Staples does! They have a bin located at the back of the store near the bathrooms for ink & toner cartridges.
Check out our “Where Does My Recycling Go” flyer for more information on what your recyclables will be turned into after they’re dropped off.
Yes! We accept empty helium tanks in the Scrap Metal Bin.
Yes! We accept all large appliances for FREE from May to October. Drop your appliances off behind the main depot building in the Appliances Area (signs posted).
Yes! We accept empty aerosol cans that contained non-hazardous liquids, such as cooking oil, air freshener and hairspray. The rule of thumb is… if you would spray yourself in the face with it, it’s recyclable. If you wouldn’t want to spray yourself in the face with it, it’s garbage. Non-hazardous aerosols can be recycled in your curbside bin or at the depot in the “Containers Bin”.
The hardcover is not recyclable, but the pages inside the book are recyclable. Rip the hardcover off the book and throw it in the garbage. The pages inside can be recycled at the recycling depot in the “Paper Bin”.
Yes! We accept all residential paint and stain – empty, partially full and full cans accepted. Please make sure your cans have a lid and a label, so we know what type of paint it is.