Frequently Asked Questions

A recovery rate is the percentage of recyclable material collected compared to the total waste output by producers.  If you are interested in knowing more about the specifics of this calculation, please reference page 27 of the Recycle BC 2023 Annual Report (here).

There are a number of items that can be recycled through the flexible plastic program!  Please reference our 'What Can I Recycle?' page for details.

Please rinse your flexible plastics that have food contaminants.  This helps the people down the line avoid any health issues and ensures that the plastics will be recycled properly.  Place all flexible plastics in an easy to grab bag and place it by your front door - that's it!

Once recycled, flexible plastics are manufactured into a variety of different products.  Examples include hard-plastic 6 pack rings, water bottles, containers, clothing, and more!  Merlin Plastics, a plastic manufacture, provides more examples on their website.

Soft plastics and flexible plastics are basically the same thing.  Recycle BC used to ask recyclers to separate their plastics into three categories - rigid plastics, plastic bags and overwrap ("soft plastics"), and other flexible plastic packaging (crinkly or pliable items).  In 2022, Recycle BC's primary end of market producer, Merlin Plastics, found a solution for recycling flexible plastics.  This landmark solution resulted in BC's soft and flexible plastic recycling categories to be merged into one¹.

Please email us at info@flexibleplastics.ca.