Metro Vancouver database helps residents finds nearby recycling spots

Metro Vancouver has launched an on-line database to help residents recycle everything from paper and clothing to hazardous materials and antiques.

Metro Vancouver Recycles, unveiled March 25, shows you where to take these materials.

“The question we’re constantly getting from citizens is: Where do I take it?” Marvin Hunt, chair of the Metro Vancouver waste management committee, said in a press release. “This is a tool so we can tell them, in their own house, where to take it so they can plan their recycling trips.”

Part of Metro Vancouver’s Zero Waste Challenge, the database allows you search for places close to home where you can donate, recycle, or appropriately dispose of items, rather than throw them in the garbage. Metro Vancouver Recycles contains over 1,300 locations in the region.

It’s simple to use: enter your street address or postal code, select your city, specify the distance that you’re willing to travel (five, 10, or 20 kilometres), and select the category and material you wish to dispose of.

3.5 million tonnes of solid waste are generated each year in Metro Vancouver, according to the regional district. Cardboard, paper, and packaging make up about 10 percent of our region’s waste, wood products and renovation waste 25 percent, and household waste 60 to 70 percent.

The Cache Creek landfill, which takes in much of the Lower Mainland’s garbage, is scheduled to close down in 2010.