The Thompson-Nicola Regional District and Recycle BC are pushing back after what they call a ‘flawed’ story on recycling in B.C. that aired on TV last week.

TNRD officials say there have been calls from citizens concerned about what’s happening to their recycling.

“We know there is more work to be done and we are committed to continuously improving,” a statement from Recycle BC read. “But the single most important fact is, British Columbians can feel secure that when they put accepted plastic packaging in their residential recycling, we will manage it properly.”

But Dave Lefabvre with Recycle BC notes that there are several checks and balances that are currently in place.

“We’re constantly tracking the materials that are being collected,” he said. “The other thing that we do, is that we perform upwards of 1,800 material audits a year. So at any given time, any truck load can actually be audited to determine whether the right materials are in there, and to get the sense of the composition.”

Lefabvre says 99 per cent of plastic that Recycle BC collects is processed within the province, with rules that stipulate what can happen to the material that is collected and to make sure its being diverted to the right place.

“And as it turns out, the company that Marketplace sent their materials to, [is the one] that actually recycled it. It’s name is Merlin Plastics,” Lefabvre added.

The one per cent not processed locally, he says, is sent in the form of densified polystyrene to China where it’s turned into picture frames.

While speaking on NL Newsday, Lefabvre was asked what’s troubling about the report?

“The challenge that we have with this report is that there were concerns raised about how the materials in the blue box system are being treated,” he said. “When we send materials to an end market, we are sending it with the explicit instruction that it must be recycled. And that’s the commitment that we have to making sure that the materials that we collected are actually recycled.”

He says Recycle BC is concerned that Marketplace’s ‘three simple commercial transactions’ are being used as a proxy for a sophisticated system that exists within BC’s home recycling program.

Officials, he notes, fear that the report could cause a disservice to people in B.C. and Canada, while eroding faith in the system.