Old books galore have been redirected out of the landfill and residential recycling into bins at the Penticton Public Library.
A total of 27,600 pounds of damaged, out-of-date books have been dropped at specialty bins since February, thanks to a new city program that aims to prevent such items from being placed in residential recycling carts.
“To put that into perspective, the largest orca recorded was 22,000 pounds,” the city wrote in a social media post.
The city launched the aforementioned program earlier this year after it was found in a Recycle BC audit that damaged books were contaminating residential bins.
Recycle BC does not accept hardcover and paperback books.
In January, the city said its goal was to lower its contamination rate from 13.3 per cent to 10 per cent or lower by November.
So, what happens to the thousands of pounds of books that are now inside the special bins?
The city says they will be picked up and taken to a processing centre, where the bindings are cut off and the paper is recycled.
Still, people are asked to consider donating their books as a first option before opting to drop them off inside the special bins.
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