Metro Vancouver has some good news, and some not so good news, about what residents are putting in their trash.
A new report to Metro's zero waste committee confirms that banned items, such as plastic checkout bags and foam cups and takeout containers, are appearing less frequently in the region's solid waste. However, compostable organics, food waste, paper and plastic continue to show up in garbage from residential and commercial-institutional sites.
Decline in Banned Items
Among single-use items, there has been a decline since 2018 in use of plastic checkout bags, foam cups, and foam takeout containers. “Our waste composition results seem to support that bans are effective,” said Terry Fulton, a senior project engineer with Metro Vancouver.
The study examined samples of residential and commercial-institutional waste at regional facilities over several weeks in 2025 to “track progress, help identify meaningful actions and programs, and to provide data for solid waste management plan monitoring.”
Increase in Other Waste
However, there has been an uptick in other items appearing in garbage waste. The percentage of compostable organics found in waste went up slightly from 22 per cent in 2024 to 25 per cent in 2025. There has also been a “consistent upward trend” in plastics found in our waste — from 17 per cent in 2022 to 20 per cent in 2025. The items are “primarily composed of flexible plastics, synthetic textiles and rigid packaging. This trend is consistent with the increased use of plastics packaging for food and other products in retail,” the report said.
Fulton said flexible plastics, such as bread bags, can be discarded in a number of ways, including in pink carts found in Vancouver apartment buildings or Vancouver's zero-waste centre. Rigid packaging can be discarded in recycling blue boxes or carts.
When it comes to single-use plastics, there has been an increased presence of plastic cups and plastic takeout containers in the waste stream. Fulton says those items can be discarded in blue recycling bins and carts.
The amount of paper found in our waste has gone up, too, from 14 per cent in 2023 to 21 per cent in 2025, mainly due to higher amounts of food-soiled paper, cardboard, and non-recyclable paper. Examples of non-recyclable paper include quick-serve wrappers, plastic-lined paper and plastic-bubble lined envelopes.
Fulton says food-soiled paper can be discarded in local green bins. Cardboard can be discarded in yellow bags intended for mixed-paper products.
Cautious Interpretation
Fulton cautions that it may be too soon to call the increases in organics, plastic and paper waste in the garbage stream a trend. The studies are conducted annually, and each represents “a snapshot in time.”
