June 4, 2009
P.E.I. blue bag scavengers could face charges
To the trained eye, these blue bags are rich in cashable beverage containers. (CBC)
The P.E.I. Environment Department wants regulations strengthened so that the province can start charging people who take blue recycling bags from the curbside, says a department official.
John Hughes, who administers the Beverage Container Act for the province, told CBC News Wednesday that complaints are growing about the gleaners, who sort through the bags for beverage containers, worth a nickel each when returned to a depot.
"People are making a contribution to environmental programs when they decide to forgo their deposit and put the containers in the blue bag," said Hughes.
"When someone steals containers from the blue-bag program, it is a theft."
Hughes said his department has received more calls about scavengers in the last 60 days than in all the previous months since the beverage container program started in May 2008.
He wants to see the regulations strengthened so those complaints can be turned into charges.
"We're examining it right now as this issue moves from being a nuisance of pollution or pilfering into more of a grand scale type of theft of the property," he said.
"If additional regulation is required, then we'll take a look at that.
On P.E.I., consumers pay a 10-cent surcharge on non-dairy beverages. If you return the container to a recycling depot, you get five cents back. Part of that nickel goes to the depot as a handling charge, and part to an environment fund.
If you choose to put the container out in the blue bag on the curb, the province gets to keep your nickel for the environmental fund.
Cruising for containers
But without any real deterrent, blue bag pickers are increasingly getting there first.
In Charlottetown, one of those pickers is Bobby Johnston, a retired cab driver. He spends his days cruising residential areas, scooping up blue bags. When CBC News visited his garage this week, there were about 20 blue bags there, what was left over after Johnston went through them for beverage containers.
Johnston said he gets about $100 a week from his blue bag business, but the work is getting more difficult.
"One day you can go to one section and get a pile, next day you get none," he said.
"There's always somebody there ahead of you — a lot of competition."
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2009/06/04/pei-blue-bag-scavengers.html
