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By Pete McIntyre

used books

Book recycling pilot project launched

Apr 14, 2023 | 2:03 PM

The Regional District Waste Reduction office is launching a three-month pilot project to offer residents of the Central Okanagan a more convenient option for recycling their old books.

The goal is to prevent books from getting tossed in residential recycling carts, which ends up contaminating the recycling stream, negatively affecting the communities’ success rates and contracts with Recycle BC.

Residents are reminded that Recycle BC does not accept hard cover or paperback books, such as novels, textbooks, and reference material in curbside recycling carts.

“Audits by Recycle BC have consistently shown that books are showing up in our recycling carts pushing our contamination rate above the allowable 3 per cent,” Rae Stewart, RDCO waste reduction facilitator, said. “Our aim is to keep books out of recycling carts and help residents get rid of their books in a more sustainable way. Many books can be donated to thrift stores, or re-sold online, or at book re-sale stores. Through this pilot, we’re looking to offer a more convenient method for residents to dispose of books that can’t be donated or re-sold.”

If your books are gently used, they may be donated to used book retailers, charities, thrift stores, or the Okanagan Regional Library Friends of the Library program.

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However, if your books are damaged or outdated (more than 5 years old), they can now be added to a series of recycling bins located in the lobbies of some Okanagan Regional Library branches including:

• Mission Library located in the Capital News Centre
• Rutland Library in Plaza 33
• West Kelowna Library in Westridge Mall
• Lake Country inside the Municipal Hall
• Peachland Library in the Village Mall.

The bins, which will be collected by Planet Earth Recycling, will be in place at those locations as a trial until mid-June. Please make sure not to place library books inside these collection bins, and always consider donating your used books as a first step.

All the books collected will get a final thorough sort, and good books will be gleaned and resold. The rest will have the bindings cut off and the paper recycled.

In the last quarter of 2022, a total of $55,000 in penalties from Recycle BC were applied to the City of Kelowna and the City of West Kelowna for having contamination over the allowable 3 per cent. If these surcharges continue, it could lead to increased costs to deliver the program to residents.

To find out more about the book recycling project, visit rdco.com/recycle