Ridge Meadows Recycling Society
Box 283, Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada

 Ridge Meadows Recycling Society is a community-based, non-profit organization, advocating zero waste, operating responsible waste reduction services and providing environmental education. We employ people with developmental disabilities assisting their integration into the community.

Ridge Meadows Recycling Society (RMRS) has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1972 as a volunteer group collecting newspapers in a backyard shed. As the recycling movement grew, the society remained a leader, paving the way for green initiatives and partnerships. RMRS now works in partnership with the City of Maple Ridge, providing recycling and blue box pickup to local residents, schools, and businesses, running a one-stop drop-off recycling depot and processing facility, and providing environmental education and outreach to schools and the community. We also employ people with developmental disabilities through Community Living BC’s Supported Work program. Click to download 2015 RMRS Overview Flyer, an overview of the services RMRS provides.

RMRS Mission Statement:

Ridge Meadows Recycling Society is a community-based, non-profit organization that advocates zero waste, operates responsible waste reduction services and provides environmental education. We employ people with developmental disabilities assisting their integration into the community.

Goals:

To empower the residents of Maple Ridge to become interdependent stewards of the environment.
To operate an organization that offers as full a range of integrated, environmentally sound waste reduction services as possible.

How Things Get Recycled

Ridge Meadows Recycling has been working with the City of Maple Ridge since its beginnings in 1972. In addition to collecting curbside recycling from residents, we also collect and process different materials at the Maple Ridge Recycling Depot. This enables us to keep jobs in the community and maintain control over processing costs, the cleanliness of our product, and, to some extent, the end markets of our recyclable materials.
The local market for recycled materials fluctuates constantly in response to supply & demand. Within the last number of years, North American paper mills have shut down as overseas markets, taking advantage of returning empty shipping containers and low-cost labour, offer higher prices for our commodities and become steep competition to local manufacturers. Ridge Meadows Recycling remains committed to shipping to local markets whenever possible.
From 1972 – 2014, we marketed all the recycling we collected curbside directly to markets, but in May, 2014, the responsibility for recycling all residential printed paper and packaging shifted to an industry-created, not-for-profit society, Multi Materials BC (MMBC) through the province’s latest EPR stewardship program. Following the provincial government’s mandate, MMBC now funds the collection, processing, and shipping of items collected curbside through Green By Nature and partner organizations such as Ridge Meadows Recycling Society.
MMBC is one of a large number of organizations that are responsible for end-of-life programs in BC. For more information, check out the BC Recycles’ Recycling Handbook:

List of NON-Accepted Items

• broken drink glasses, mirrors, & window panes – bring to landfill ☹ *these are made of a different kind of glass, so unfortunately cannot be accepted with the regular glass jars & bottles for recycling.
• carpeting – bring to landfill 
• ceramic plates & dishes – bring to landfill 
• clean wood – bring to organics area of Transfer Station next door to the Recycling Depot. Metro Vancouver will be implemented a Clean Wood Disposal Ban in 2015. ☺
• kitchen scraps & food waste – uncooked fruit & vegetable scraps can go in a backyard composter, all food waste (including bones, dairy, bread, etc.) can be put in a backyard Solar Cone Food Digester ☺ In response to Metro Vancouver’s Organic Waste Disposal Ban, which began in January, 2015, there is a residential organic waste tote on the main tipping floor of the Maple Ridge Garbage Transfer Station
• mattresses: check out www.mattressrecycling.ca or www.canadianmattressrecycling.com, can also be dropped off at the Transfer Station ($15 drop off fee per mattress) for recycling ☺ -see video below
• medicine – pills & liquid medicine can be returned for no charge at pharmacies
• needles – collection boxes for sharps are available at pharmacies
• pressure-treated wood – bring to transfer station. Metro Vancouver implemented a Clean Wood Disposal Ban in 2015.
• reusable clothing, toys, books & furniture donate to charity ☺
• yard trimmings: most yard waste (weeds, grass clippings) can go in a backyard composter, set larger branches out for the Chipping Program (spring & fall), or bring to organics area of Transfer Station next door to the Recycling Depot