A new levy is coming to offset the cost of disposing of contaminated recycling.

Contaminated recycling must be sent to the landfill. Now the Pembina Valley Recycling Network (PVRN) is proposing a 25 cent per capita levy to cover those garbage disposal costs.

PVRN Chair Marvin Plett explains the costs have also increased as China, a major global customer for recycling, tightens its quality requirements.

"They allow much less dirt and contamination," Plett says. "And some materials are not worth a lot on the market right now. All these factors add to the difference in net income."

Gateway Resources Director of Operations Loni Derksen explains recycling is easily contaminated by improperly cleaned products. He encourages residents to thoroughly rinse out items that carried food product.

Loni Derksen Director of Operations.

"Just remember that everything you put into the blue box, we have people that have to handle it on this end," he says.

He notes paper must also be kept dry or it becomes unusable, styrofoam is not recycling, and used napkins and paper towels are compost. However, household batteries are accepted.

Approximately 2,500 metric tonnes of recyclables pass through Gateway Recourses' Winkler facility annually.

To learn more information on what can or can not be recycled click here.

Learning what is recyclable can increase in the efficiency of sorting recyclables at the plant.

Based on 2016 census numbers, the PVRN expects to collect $7,000 from the levy on its six municipal members:

Carman 2980 = $745.00
Rhineland (PC). 904 = $226.00
Roland 1129 = $282.25
Stanley 8969 = $2242.25
Thompson 1422 = $355.50
Winkler 12660 = $3265.00

Total 28064 = $7016.00

Residents are encouraged to thoroughly clean their recycling or else it might end up in the landfill anyway