Metal pots and pans may soon be allowed in blue bags in Halifax. But polystyrene products, such as foam take-out containers and coffee cups, will likely still be tossed in the trash.

On Tuesday, regional council is set to decide on a recommendation to award a recycling contract to Royal Environmental for five years.

According to the recommendation report from Halifax CAO Jacques Dubé, Royal Environmental's proposal says metal pots and pans can be added to the municipality's blue bag recyclables without additional costs.

Those kitchen pans could then be marketed and sold to metal recyclers, similar to the way aluminum cans and steel are marketed.

To help people get used to the idea of recycling their pots and pans, the report recommends directing municipal staff to "develop and undertake an appropriate education and communications plan for residents and collection contractors to facilitate the addition of metal pots and pans to the blue bag recyclables program effective July 2, 2019."

The Ecology Action Centre says the addition of metal pots and pans to blue bags would be a step in the right direction.

"I think it's a great idea and it would be a new source of revenue for the municipality because there is money in metal," said Mark Butler, the policy director for the Ecology Action Centre.

"Of course we'd always encourage people to use their pots and pans as long as they can because the more you can use something the better."

Royal Environmental also proposed the possibility of adding polystyrene products to the list of accepted recyclables. But under their proposal, that would cost the city an extra $22,370 in the first year of the contract.

Because of the cost, and the weak market for the products, the report recommends holding off on adding polystyrenes for now.

"Instead, staff recommends monitoring market conditions regularly and when markets improve, to review the reliability of markets and revenue for polystyrene to see when there is a positive business case for adding this material," the report stated.

Butler agrees it's difficult to find markets for polystyrene products, so if people want to keep their coffee cups and take out containers out of the trash, he has a suggestion:

"The first thing we always say is if you don't have to use it, don't. Recycling is good, but it's not the top bar. There's a hierarchy of ours in terms of solid waste and the top one is refuse or reduce. So you know if you don't have to use something all the better," he said.