Sixty-one new bear-proof recycle bins are being placed in eight BC Parks, including Wells Gray Park Provincial Park, to encourage people to recycle their used beverage containers.
"Our province has worked very hard to reduce waste and the number of bear-human conflicts," said Environment Minister Terry Lake. "The continued support of the 'bear smart' recycling program, without a doubt, has improved the way we co-exist with bears while keeping our BC Parks clean."
Encorp Pacific has contributed 121 recycling bins to the program with a total value of $184,000.
Expanding on a successful pilot launched in May 2009, the program promotes responsible recycling in provincial parks while deterring bears. Once bears find an easily accessible source of food, they often return to those areas. Encorp's 'bear smart' recycling initiative is helping to reduce the number of bear-human conflicts.
The initiative's main goal is to encourage industries to be more responsible for managing what happens to their products once the consumer is done using them. BC Parks and Encorp Pacific will continue to promote effective waste management systems.
Encorp Pacific is a stewardship program and industry-led agency that is responsible for management and recycling of empty beverage containers.
Encorp's mandate is to develop, manage and improve systems to ensure that used containers are properly recycled and diverted from landfills.
Besides Wells Gray, other provincial parks receiving the specially designed bear-proof metal bins are Cultus Lake (near Chilliwack), Goldstream (near Victoria), Rathtrevor Beach (near Parksville), Alice Lake (near Squamish), Paul Lake (near Kamloops), Manning (in between Hope and Princeton) and Golden Ears (near Maple Ridge).