Recycling does at least these things:

• Keeps materials that can be recovered (paper, glass, metals, plastics, food etc) out of the landfills; and in the case of organics like paper, food, yard waste, it significantly reduces greenhouse gases from landfills.
• Minimizes the amount of material that has to be disposed keeps Metro Vancouver from having to expand the disposal system which keeps costs down.
• Reduces the consumption of natural resources used to manufacture new items.
• Creates employment - many local jobs are related to the recycling industry. The local recycling industry is worth well over $500 million per year. A 2001 study estimated it to be about $250 million, and we’re recycling twice as many tonnes per year now. And that’s not even accounting for inflation.

Approved within the Region’s Solid Waste Plan, Metro Vancouver’s current goal is to raise the region’s diversion rate from 55% to 70% by 2015 aiming towards 80% by 2020 – these rates would place us among the highest recycling cities and nations in the world.

Currently, most products are designed and manufactured under the assumption that their end-of-life disposal is someone else’s responsibility. Few products are designed to be easily recycled. Each year millions of products that cannot be recycled are handled by local government; costing money, filling up landfills and impacting the environment.

Metro Vancouver is not directly responsible for collecting or managing recyclable materials. We work with member municipalities, industry, residents and the Province to develop and implement recycling initiatives which are aligned with the Province’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs.

• Provide online resources for businesses;
• Provide online resources for residents;
• Help everyone find out where to take things;
• Is convening national conversations around waste reduction at the producer level;
• Monitors the volume of recyclable materials in the landfill.

Current initiatives aimed at increasing recycling activity:

• Working with the BC government’s Plan for Packaging and Printed Paper
  Packaging and printed paper can be hard to collect and hard to recycle, partly because of what they are made of (mixtures of plastic and paper, low-grade non-recyclable plastics etc).
  In 2011, the Provincial Government added Packaging and Printed Paper to the Recycling Regulation, creating an obligation on producers of these materials to ensure they can be collected and recycled. The Plan will be implemented across our region by 2014 and will be managed by Multi-Material B.C.
  
  Metro Vancouver is a strong supporter of EPR and on an ongoing basis supports the Province to ensure EPR programs are successful by creating the regulatory framework (e.g. introducing bylaws and bans) to accelerate their adoption across our region.
  
  
• Advocating for changes to design and packaging
  Through convening a National Zero Waste Council, Metro Vancouver is advocating for designers and manufacturers to re-think how they create waste through the products and packaging they produce. In collaboration with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Metro Vancouver is advocating for producers to adopt a “design for the environment” approach that will reduce consumption and waste in manufacturing and transport, increase longevity of products, and make products entering the consumer marketplace more recyclable.
  
  
• Introducing new regulations and bans
  To increase recycling opportunities and to create a consistent and dependable market for investment in recycling, Metro Vancouver bans certain materials from the disposal system, including those with accessible and robust recycling programs such as cardboard and paper. Read more
  
• Metro Vancouver is working towards ensuring there is access and space for recycling in all multi-family and commercial buildings across the region. Read more
• Metro Vancouver is working towards mandatory recycling from demolition and construction sites, with wood as a major focus. Read more
• Metro Vancouver is working towards banning organic materials from the landfill by 2015. The ban will apply to all commercial, institutional and multi-family buildings in the region. (link to more food pages) In parallel, Metro Vancouver works with municipalities to support their organics collection programs for single-family homes.
• Metro Vancouver is consulting with stakeholders on a way to ensure that waste is disposed at regional facilities, rather than at cheaper non-regional disposal sites which do not enforce our disposal bans on recyclable materials. Preventing waste from bypassing disposal bans protects the economic viability of the local recycling industry. Read more
  
  
• Developing initiatives for multi-family residences
  Multi-family residents (condos, townhouses, towers) have traditionally had lower recycling rates. Metro Vancouver and member municipalities are engaged in programs to identify the challenges, and solutions to improving these rates. Initiatives include working with Tenant Associations to develop a region-wide *tool kit for building managers and municipalities, consistent signage region-wide, and recommendations for recycling rooms. Read more 
  (*The toolkit will not include food scrap collection. more info on food scraps recycling
  
  
• Expanding the Recycling Infrastructure
  While Metro Vancouver does not play a key role in offering recycling depots (municipalities and private companies operate most facilities), there are good convenient opportunities to recycle some materials at the regional transfer stations. Metro Vancouver is also working with municipalities to develop an equitable business model to fund and operate ‘one-stop-drop’ Eco-Centres where practically all recyclables can be accepted. Metro continues to encourage and guide temporary infrastructure such as waste sorting bins at community events conferences etc.
  
  
• Delivering targeted outreach to Citizens and Businesses
  We provide information to residents, community groups, business and industry and schools on recycling opportunities - to make it easier for them to locate recycling facilities and services, to provide details of new rules coming in and to support them to implement regulatory changes. For example:
  
• MetroVancouverRecycles.org and weRecycle for the iPhone is a tool that to find the place to recycle, take-back or donate almost anything across our region;
• Run advertising campaigns-to make it easier for people to locate recycling facilities, to provide details of new rules coming in and to support citizens and businesses affected by the changes to implement regulatory changes. View our latest food scraps recycling campaign.
• Work with key sectors affected by new regulations coming in. Currently, Metro is working with the grocery and restaurant industry (via their associations) to help them prepare for a 2015 ban on organic materials in the garbage. Metro is also supporting the construction and demolition sectors (which produce about 20 per cent of all waste disposed annually in the region) to meet a new bylaw which will require recycling on construction and demolition sites by 2015.
• Provide ongoing support to municipalities to promote their individual organics collection programs and recycling services.