In the two weeks since it launched, the City’s new book recycling program has had an overwhelming response.

On November 17, 2023, staff installed bright yellow book recycling carts at two locations—the Tournament Capital Centre lobby and the North Shore Library. However, the uptake was much more than anticipated, and within a few days, the cart in the Tournament Capital Centre lobby was overflowing and boxes and bags of old books were piling up around it.

The book recycling carts are 360 L in size, which is the size of the largest garbage cart available. In the first 10 days of the program, eight full carts were collected, which represents several thousand pounds of books that will be kept out of the landfill and recycled (or donated to a second-hand or used book store if in good condition).

Staff have installed several more bright yellow book recycling carts at the Tournament Capital Centre location and plan to increase collection frequency.  

“It’s a good problem to have, to know that residents will definitely take advantage of designated book recycling carts,” said Megan Graham, the City’s Solid Waste Services Analyst and book recycling program lead, noting that she is looking at potential options to expand the program around the community.

To learn more about the book recycling program, including what is accepted, visit Kamloops.ca/BookRecycling.