British Columbia’s lower Sunshine Coast recorded the province’s highest per-capita collection of residential packaging and paper products in 2025, reaching 65.7 kilograms per person, according to Recycle BC’s latest annual report.

The result was almost double the B.C. average of 37 kilograms per person and about 10 kilograms higher than Squamish-Lillooet, the next-highest community reported under the program.

Neighbouring qathet recorded approximately 50 kilograms per person, while Metro Vancouver collected 37.5 kilograms per capita.

Across British Columbia, Recycle BC reported 210,046 net tonnes of residential packaging and paper products collected and managed through its system during 2025.

Sunshine Coast Reaches 65.7 kg Per Person

The Sunshine Coast’s participation in the provincial packaging and paper products (PPP) recycling system dates back to 2014, when three recycling depots operating under the Sunshine Coast Regional District joined the program.

They include the Gibsons Recycling Centre, GRIPs in Pender Harbour and Salish Environmental in Sechelt.

Curbside participation expanded later. Sechelt’s curbside recycling became part of the system in 2019, followed by the shíshálh Nation Government District program in 2021.

Ann Goulding, Recycle BC’s manager of stakeholder relations and a Sunshine Coast resident, described the latest result as an indication of strong community participation.

She also said further improvements in recycling could help reduce the amount of material entering the Sunshine Coast landfill, which is approaching capacity.

Paper Recycling Rate Reaches 92%

The provincial data also show substantial differences in recovery performance among packaging materials.

According to Recycle BC’s 2025 figures, 92% of covered paper products were recycled.

Metal packaging reached 74%.

Plastic packaging remained considerably lower, with 56% for rigid plastics and 23% for flexible plastics.

The difference highlights one of the continuing challenges for packaging recycling systems: placing a product in a technically recyclable package does not necessarily mean it will achieve a high recovery rate after use.

Collection infrastructure, consumer sorting, material characteristics and downstream processing all influence the actual outcome.

Flexible Plastics Remain a Recycling Challenge

Goulding identified plastics as one of the material categories that can create the most uncertainty for consumers.

Recycle BC provides online and app-based tools allowing residents to search for specific products and determine where they should be placed.

Depot employees can also provide sorting guidance.

The organization emphasizes that its program covers packaging, meaning many plastic items used to contain, protect or transport another product may be eligible even when consumers are uncertain about the material itself.

Flexible plastic’s 23% recycling rate nevertheless indicates a significant gap compared with paper.

For packaging producers, the figures provide another example of why actual collection and recycling performance needs to be considered alongside recyclability claims during packaging development.

Why Did Glass Reach a 104% Recycling Rate?

One unusual figure in the 2025 report was a 104% rate for glass.

A rate above 100% does not mean more glass was recycled than physically existed.

Goulding explained that glass packaging can remain in households for extended periods, meaning containers purchased in previous reporting years may enter the recycling system during the current year.

Refundable glass containers can also be mistakenly mixed with the non-refundable glass covered by the PPP program.

Their weight can initially be included in collected material before depots identify and redirect refundable containers into the appropriate system.

These timing and collection effects can result in reported recycling volumes exceeding the amount of covered glass packaging supplied during the same reporting period.

More Than 2.3 Million B.C. Households Have Access

Recycle BC operates an extended producer responsibility system for residential packaging and paper products across British Columbia.

The not-for-profit organization describes the system as North America’s first full EPR program for residential packaging and paper products.

Rather than relying solely on municipal funding, the program is financed by obligated producers, including manufacturers, retailers and restaurants that supply covered packaging and paper products.

In 2025, 1,206 producers participated in the system.

More than 2.3 million households across British Columbia had access to Recycle BC services during the year.

The network also expanded into three additional communities, while nine new recycling depots opened, including a facility on Gabriola Island.

Collection Data Show Material Choice Is Only Part of Recycling

The Sunshine Coast’s 65.7-kilogram result demonstrates what high community participation can achieve within an established collection system.

But the material-specific figures reveal another part of the story.

Paper achieved a 92% recycling rate, while flexible plastics reached only 23%.

That gap illustrates why packaging circularity depends on more than designing a package that can theoretically be recycled.

Consumers must recognize where it belongs, collection systems must accept it, and downstream infrastructure must be capable of sorting and processing the recovered material.

For British Columbia, continued education and improvements in the recovery of harder-to-recycle packaging — particularly flexible plastics — could become increasingly important as the province seeks to keep more material out of landfills.

Recycle BC is a not-for-profit organization responsible for residential packaging and paper recycling in British Columbia through an extended producer responsibility system funded by obligated producers.

Last Updated on 31/08/2026 by Jota Machinery