Rats running over piles of material at a Winnipeg recycling plant - as CTV showed you first on Monday, that's what's happening at the Emterra recycling plant on Henry Avenue.
The company said food residue is coming to the plant, attracting the rodents and some worry an education campaign telling people they don’t have to rinse containers before recycling may be contributing to that problem.
Karen Nilsson runs Lac du Bonnet recycling facility Environmental Solutions.
She worries the campaign is sending the wrong message.
“It’s encouraging laziness,” she said. “It makes people take that one step further, and leave actual food in the containers - like lots of food.”
So she's forced to separate the food waste from the recyclables so it won't attract rodents.
"Wherever there's food waste, essentially, it's a garbage dump. There will be rodents,” said Darlene Augustine from Environmental Solutions.
Karen Melnychuk, executive of Multi-Materials Stewardship Manitoba, said some residue or contamination will always make it to recycling plants.
But she believes education campaigns such as theirs will teach people what should and shouldn't go in the carts.
"We do encourage people to make sure its empty. But it doesn't mean you have to run water to rinse and clean it thoroughly before it goes into your recycling bin. It's about that convenience,” she said.
