Prince George, B.C. – The Regional District of Fraser Fort George (RDFFG) plans to use next week’s Union of BC Municipalities Convention (UBCM) in Whistler to lobby for recycling changes.

The RDFFG has submitted a resolution asking that BC’s Recycling Regulation require product stewardship programs provide collection services in any community where consumers are charged stewardship fees.

The District points out that residents living in smaller, rural communities, aren’t always provided a full range of collection services despite the fact fees to support these programs are collected province-wide.

They say they are charged either as part of the retail price of the product, or via an additional fee or levy added at the point of purchase.

Board chair Art Kaehn says a recent review revealed though all stewardship programs provided services in the PG area, many programs left communities such as McBride, Valemount and Mackenzie “without reasonable collection access.”

He says that ought to change to ensure “if residents are paying into a collection program, they should have reasonable access to services.”