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Glass and most plastics are being forced out of blue bag collection in Strathcona County as a result of tightening international recycling markets, even though it means increasing the amount of waste ending up in landfills.

As of Sept. 10, the county will no longer be accepting any glass items, styrofoam, to-go coffee cups and plastic materials — excluding hard plastic containers — in its weekly recycling collection.

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This is a response to tougher restrictions on reusable materials accepted globally as spearheaded by China at the end of 2017, said Leah Seabrook, manager of waste management and community energy.

“Convenience was driving some unwanted materials getting into the blue bags and it was being shipped overseas,” Seabrook said. “We are in a position where there are materials no longer accepted in the marketplace and can’t be recycled.”

In contrast, the City of Edmonton is not looking to make any changes to the recycling program that still accepts glass and plastic bags, but instead handling the tighter restrictions by implementing a more stringent sorting process at the materials recovery facility, contract manager Michael Robertson said.