The Comox Valley Regional District Directors have - without warning - shut down all single-stream recycling drop-offs in the Comox valley. 

There is no viable alternative. People either need to drive to the Landfill or to the Return-it depot in Courtenay. The latter is crowded, has restricted access, and is currently overwhelmed with bottle drives. 

Since no warning was provided, residents will have to self-sort their recycling or simply throw it out. 

For a Board apparently committed to the environment, this is an unconscionable decision. Everyone recognizes the that some illegal dumping will occur in recycling depots. This is not a new problem. The solution is to invest in better solutions.

Cutting recycling services just means more recyclable materials (80% of current disposal at the depots was recyclable) going to landfill. It means people who want to recycle have to increase their costs, time and/or risk by going to fewer and more centralized locations. Good actors are being penalized for caring about the planet. 

This is not the approach the Directors should take, and it's not the platform upon which they were elected.  More people are moving to the Valley ever year. We need more and better infrastructure, not less and worse. 

We call for an immediate re-instatement of recycling infrastructure in the region. We further call fo the region to follow the lead of the Nanaimo Regional District and offer region-wide garbage, recycling and compost pickup.