I TRY WORKING as a RECYCLING TRUCK DRIVER

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0:00 - What's it like being a recycling truck driver?
4:11 - City of Burnaby Eco Centre
5:20 - The Hawk that works for the City of Burnaby
Edited by: ‪@WarwickHughes‬
Thumbnail by: Matt Mort

[@ronahmann6980]

Interesting “behind the scenes” Michael! We need a lot more education about recycling, especially organic and need a lot more of these types of processing centers.

[@IzzyOnTheMove]

When i was a kid, there was no recycling in my town (Lévis, QC). i don't know how i had heard our city had a paper recycling plant (called VIA). I convinced 3 of my friends to go door to door each Sunday with a wheelie cart and we would ask the neighbours to give us their junk paper, empty cereal boxes, this week's flyers etc and bring that back and fill my dad's trunk, then bring it to the recycling plant. Sometimes, we had to drive there twice. Then a few years later, the blue bins appeared. True story 💜

[@CANControlGRAFFITI]

Probably a big V8 I bet!

[@bradbates2339]

These behind the scenes tours are truly fascinating. I was watching a similar truck come pick up my garbage last week and thought of my own childhood memory of garbage pickup in the 1960s. That was a driver who stayed inside plus two guys who rode on each back corner of the truck doing the pickup. Those guys didn't seem to be racing against time like the lone operator does now. And of course all of the stuff going into the truck would end up in a landfill. So we are getting more efficient though we can still do more, like question how much we need stuff in the first place.

[@AL-grhvc]

one of the most crucial jobs of our unfortunate age of consumption and waste, thank you for your essential service Tino and the whole recycling team 💯👏👏👏 and thank you for another interesting content Mike 👍👏👏👏

[@IzzyOnTheMove]

Exactly! I produce almost no "real" waste (the black bin) and little food waste (we have a smaller brown bin for that) but my full sized blue bin (recycling) is always FULL. And we don't have those nifty yellow bags here in Québec!

[@AL-grhvc]

@@IzzyOnTheMove 👍👏👏

[@BradMellalieu]

Thanks Al! Maybe I’ll see you on the streets of Burnaby sometime

[@AL-grhvc]

@@BradMellalieu 🤞✨

[@PokhrajRoy.]

From being a Gardien Côtier to a Waste and Recycling Collector, we’ve seen quite the character arc and it’s safe to say that Mike could read a Telephone Directory and I’d be invested in his Professional Success 😂

[@luiselapostolfeliz2421]

Nice video.

[@TheOdderlbert]

oh no you are spamming here too? why cant i get away from you and what the hell is wrong with you mate?!

[@jamesavey4557]

Thanks Mike! I enjoy your take on “adventure “, from travels to the various jobs that need to be done. I always look forward to your weekly release. Cheers.

[@liddlej4]

I love how much of a priority they've made recycling and how accessible it is. I have a magnet in my kitchen of all the things my local refuse and recycling center will take in the bins and there's a lot of things they don't take in the bins or at all.

[@IzzyOnTheMove]

We've been bi-weekly for years here (Lévis, QC). One week trash, one week recycling. I also love that we can put leaves (or grass) in the food waste bins and in the summer and fall, they pick them up more often (weekly) so you can get th eleaves off your yard every week (We have lots of mature trees). 🍁

[@DownieLive]

Thanks for sharing!

[@Zeyev]

Thanks for sharing what Burnaby is doing. Mountain View, California, has a similar set-up but we have a split recycle tote with one side for glass/plastics/cans and another side for paper. It makes it easier for the drivers because they don't have to get out of the truck. But it means more effort downstream when all of the various metals/glass types/plastics have to be separated. Like Burnaby residents we put our food waste in with our garden waste for composting. Our household waste is picked up every week whereas our recycling is taken every other week. We can take electronics and other materials to a facility we share with other cities. All that said, it looks like Burnaby is far ahead of us in many ways. PS My last time in Burnaby was participating in the 5K and the 10K at the stadium and the woods of Central Park during Gay Games III in 1990. Such a great experience! PPS When I carried mail for the US Post Office Department, we drove some trucks standing up It took a bit to get used to.

[@andrewkast4087]

Great explanation of what happens with our trash! It also shows what can be possible if everyone was aware of how they dispose of the waste they create. Thank you for posting!

[@brandonpeniuk]

I remember one of your vlogs that you made last year. It was of you riding your bike. It was such a coincidence when you crossed paths with your sister on your bike. Situations like that make life interesting.

[@John_Fugazzi]

Love that Hawk. I never would have imagined the seagull and pigeon problem but it makes perfect sense as a way to solve it.

[@CANControlGRAFFITI]

What about the rats?

[@matthewsvideos8235]

Instead of the Seagull tornado that frequents the Delta landfill after Burnaby moves the garbage and green waste out.

[@vigilabj]

Tino. What a looker! 🥰

[@TheJttv]

I am a packaging engineer meaning I design a large portion of that stuff. Its nice to see a city doing it right. (Atleast by North American standards) too many cities are behind the curve

[@ISpyZen]

This is the content I live for!!!!! Love the behind the scenes logistical stuff!

[@iraforleiter7954]

Mike - now this is a topic I NEVER would have thought you would cover in one of your videos. Your mind is like a fertile field - tilled, fertilized, and watered; sprouting an endless array of ideas for content. I don't know what video topic you are going to come up with next but I know I want to be there to watch it!

[@DownieLive]

Wow, thanks

[@HELENation]

I love Burnaby Eco Centre!! It's so much cleaner than before. The staff there are always very friendly ! Next time, I hope I'll be able to spot Caprice when I go there! SO COOL!!!!!!!

[@MrThatnativeguy]

Cool video I pass by the eco Center all the time on my rides (considering it’s right on the Central Valley greenway trail) I never thought of what was behind those fences, now I know :) that’s gonna change the way I look at it

[@benitachan5200]

Humbled much. Love recyling and all things therein. I hope I can keep learning how to waste less and live more. Thanks Canada!

[@timobrian6255]

Thanks Mike. That was awesome. I wish where I live (near the beach in Virginia) they would incorporate some of those ideas.

[@jwuertz7101]

I find the garbage and recycling process so interesting! Thanks for this peek into it! Bonus Harris hawk!!

[@kimberlyshalaby1134]

I think the bird has the highest job with benefits. hehe Interesting to see what all is involved in someone else's job. A day in the life of a recycling truck driver was fun.

[@shaunah.creations9233]

Aw my 3yo son loves the garbage truck when it comes to our house. He also goes to the window to see them. He didn’t know what to do when one of the drivers waved at him one day lol. They’re sweet, we love them! 😃

[@DownieLive]

That is awesome!

[@bknighty28]

Ontario needs to adopt some of these methods. Were filling landfills at such an alarming rate with things that can be recycled and prolong those landfills lives.

[@skeptikz009]

great video! ties into true earth and i love recycling everytthing i can i feel so much better doing it!

[@heathertruskinger6214]

Interesting concept. In Queensland Australia, green-lid wheeliebin ( standard garbage) is once a week pickup. Yellow-lid wheeliebin ( mixed recycle, bottles, tins, cardboard, plastic) is once a week. And some council areas also have a third pick-up once a fortnight for green-waste ( plants, weeds, lawn clippings)

[@carolefarish4790]

Shared this with my sister as I thought my nephews would enjoy it. They love waiting and watching the bin men!

[@BryanWong77]

WOW! I have been visiting the recycling depot in burnaby recently the past 2 years and never knew there was a Hawk on Payroll. The more you know! I have always thought the meaning to Travel in to go far far away from where you are currently standing. Thank you for showing us that you do know have to go there far, you just have to look closely! Thanks Downie!!!!

[@petermladinic8249]

Burnaby is nice looking city. Good to see the citizens are so environmentally conscious, and to see the process. Thanks, Mike. I loved Caprice!

[@valleygirlknits]

Awesome! I recycle everything, including when we go for fast food (I bring the packaging home). I remember the days before recycling began in BC and EVERYTHING went in the trash. Fast forward to today --> now I maybe have one small bag of trash each month. So grateful for the recycling pickup service. :)

[@DownieLive]

Love that!

[@adf2099]

Great job guys! I'm in the solid waste industry. My respects to all solid waste drivers & office staff. Thank you for your service!

[@shelaghjackson9577]

Thanks! I don’t know if it will return post pandemic, but the City of Delta used to have an open day in the summer at the Landfill. It was so interesting , for all ages, to see what goes on with garbage, recycling and composting.

[@sethtriggs]

This is so cool seeing you do these videos behind the scenes of public works and infrastructure. I wonder if you're going to do things with waterworks and sewerage too!

[@vancouverdiaries738]

Thanks Caprice for your amazing work

[@canadianjuhli]

Another great story Mike. I like the way you personalized it at the end. Creative as always and lots of fun. Thanks!

[@DownieLive]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@gmsteele44]

I look forward to Saturday every week ‘cause of this channel. Makes my week!

[@michaelformaini7053]

What a lovely foggy morning to be out on the run with Gino! It was a bit like that in Melbourne yesterday with a few showers passing through. Then you had a much better day at the recycling centre..Caprice is a real cutie of a bird of prey. She's just a little smaller than our wedged tail eagle. I have had the privilege of being up close and personal to one of these, both within a sanctuary and also in the wild (where I remained still while in its territory). My local council is going to introduce similar fortnightly recycling collection soon but with a twist. Our food scraps can go into the green waste bin that will be collected weekly as my area has lots of lawns and deciduous trees that shed leaves and we have been calling for more frequent green waste collection. We've just got to hold on to the packaging, bottles and plastic waste for the fortnightly collection. Mixing the food scraps with the green waste goes some way to alleviating the bird problem at the disposal centre as the scraps will compost much quicker prior to collection. I wonder what exotic calling you will greet us with next week. Being a garbo at 35 will keep you fit while collecting an income but I'm sure other alternatives will come to mind. Great entertainment!!

[@tirvine9102]

I love BC's recycling system, I hope more places integrate something similar. In Richmond we have the same schedule and a big depot as well as smaller ones around town. They keep making improvements and adding to the list of items accepted. I discovered, just today, that they updated the website to allow you to search all kinds of household items to find out how and where to dispose of them.

[@DownieLive]

That’s great!

[@ricsmith2185]

Cool just now finding these extra videos that you do....great stuff bro!

[@kevinhawthorne5257]

Thank You for all of your videos that you did.

[@lisaanderson8235]

I used to work as an admin at a Recycling non profit here in the States! When we'd have an open house a couple of times a year, kids and adults were fascinated by the trucks! ♻️🚚

[@chewar7537]

That is great!!! Wish we did it so technically here in the US. As always, enjoyed your video...keep them coming. Can't wait to see what you do next. Caprice is beautiful!!! 🤎

[@thebrickz31]

I drive a rearpack waste collection truck at GFL in Toronto, This is super cool, the saddlebag loader you used is actually pretty rare nowadays as most recycle is commingled instead of separated.

[@StaceDayment]

Would be great to see a follow-up about the yard waste/composting bin pickup and more about how that changed garbage collection in Burnaby over these last few years. Also what's allowed to go into the yard waste/composting (gum? House plants? Poison ivy? pet food? natural pet litter? fast food containers? etc.) Yeah it's Burnaby-centric but maybe it could educate other cities looking to make some changes :)

[@donnawillis6625]

WOW this should be practiced everywhere in America. Thanks Mike very informative.

[@alexandreleblanc6071]

Love those kind off video!! Great video again!

[@siobhancrawford7236]

Wow! Caprice definitely takes her job seriously! xxx

[@charlesmcdermott6139]

Mike! As usual a great post! I am here in San Juan Puerto Rico for a few weeks. There is no recycling here, as I have at home in New Jersey. I feel GUILTY! Even if I do separate stuff, it all goes to the same dump. Other than that, this is a Paradise! La Isla del Encanto! But no trains, except for a small subway line here in the largest city in the Caribbean.

[@geoffreyrichardson8738]

Australia uses the same type of bins and trucks for recycling as we use for general waste, though the recycling bins are twice the size as general waste bins.

[@freduah4253]

Can't wait to tell my friends that, where I live they hired a falcon. Very nice video like always. :-)

[@sagefaribole]

I live in Ontario since 2015 and today, for the first time, i noticed the steering wheel was "turning on its own". Then i asked a friend how and he told me recycling trucks have 2 steerings wheel and that's how i ended up here watching this video haha. Thanks for showing us!

[@geman741]

EYYY LETS GO I think I asked for this vid back when you uploaded the tug boat one!

[@Brick-Life]

Awesome to see the tour!

[@ExposingOurWaste]

Fantastic angles and shots! Pretty neat video!

[@kristianaldrin]

Your sound effects are spot on the recycling 🛻 😂 👌🏾 Mike 😉 another awesome video

[@adventureswithjosie]

Great video Mike! Really interesting! I wish we had better recycling options where I live. We can't even put glass in the recycling here.

[@ajmilagros]

My city says it want to move towards his level of recycling- we are not there yet, but we are working on it! I can’t wait until we can put kitchen scraps in my green waste bin, right now it’s only for garden waste.

[@juscelinobarreto998]

Thank you very much for showing us behind the scenes. Please say hello to Caprice . Waiting for more . Cya!!!

[@AZTrashTrucks]

The good old Labrie top select, wish I could have done this!

[@IzzyOnTheMove]

5:47 Canuck the Crow would have been great for bringing anything shiny to the recycling LOL! With how he used to pick up knives and stuff! Did he ever reappear or is he still missing??? ❤

[@paulolson]

That was cool. Good job. (Especially Caprice!)

[@ShoresRailfan]

When I was a wee lad back in the 1950's, there was no recycling. The garbage truck came once a week and took everything to a land fill on the shores of San Francisco Bay. Today that dumping area is called Seal Point Park in San Mateo.

[@janellecheuvront4011]

Great educational video! My family lives in Surrey. You need to do something with semiahmoo bulldozing and trucking. He works on the railroad in white rock. Aubrey Stevens.

[@PghPA81]

Thank you for sharing this. I am so jealous of this town. Where I live in Pennsylvania in the USA no glass is taken curbside and limited plastic is. Electronics can be taken once a month to a location where you have to wait in line in a car for 20 minutes +/- (think about the carbon footprint of that). I can find nowhere that takes batteries anymore and nowhere to take the plastics that can't be picked up curbside. Burnaby recycles styrofoam! That's amazing. Food waste goes in the garbage here. Burnaby is an example to the world!

[@tinodamico7501]

Hey it’s Me :) I had such a great time with you doing this video.. keep up the great work

[@DownieLive]

Thanks for having me out with you, Tino! It was a fun day!

[@denisantoniazzi9844]

Simply amazing, like every episode! Here goes my suggestion for a tour: how about a visit to Anian's facilities to see how they make one these legendary shirts of yours eh? Tks, Cheers!

[@DownieLive]

Anian is great! Good idea, I’ll reach out!

[@ramblingman8992]

Watching from the UK. It is interesting to see that other Countries also have public recycling centres. Over here, we refer to them as civic amenity centres, but the principle is the same. It appears that, in Burnaby at least, the Municipal Council runs the whole waste process whilst over here, kerbside collections are the responsibility of the Town, City or Borough Council, whilst the civic amenity centres are run by the County Councils. The mad thing is that not all local Councils collect the same recycling. I live in the City of Colchester and our Council runs bi-weekly collections and picks up glass, plastics, card/paper, textiles, tins, green waste and food waste (this goes to a biomass facility in a different Council area) as part of our Council Tax. However, in the bordering Council area of Tendring (still with the County of Essex), they don't pick up green waste for free (they charge extra on top). They also collect tetra packs which Colchester doesn't.

[@AntonWongVideo]

OMG!! Caprice is such a good bird! that's pretty cool!

[@carlmuhm3896]

Mike you may have watched the garbage man when little and had a dream, but Canada has a dream that is a Vlogger your videos prove this is your calling

[@joermnyc]

So not used to side-loading trucks, here in NYC it’s all dropped in the back, and scooped inside, where rams compact everything down so the truck can carry a surprising amount of waste. (We have split trucks one side takes paper, the other glass, metal and plastics (those are separated later). Of course being a major city there’s also a lot of trucks that take only “garbage” (everything else, it’s either sent to landfills, or burned in a high efficiency incinerator over in New Jersey to generate electricity), they are working on making NYC zero trash at some point in the future (all recycling, and composting (they tried a program for composting, but only in single family homes… it didn’t last long, I guess they’ll see what happened and try a better version in the future.)

[@ritatharp5238]

Thank you for sharing that cool bird!!! 🙂

[@Cherrycola14]

I'm in mission and the dump is way in the middle of know where. A few years ago I brought a mattress in and got charged more because I wasn't the central mission. How does that make sense? Did I bring the mattress to them? Doesn't cost them any more to recycle. This is why so many sofas mattress gets dumped. Or you gotta hang on to them until the next spring cleanup. No one has space for that. For the next mattress, I'll either take apart and work it into my garbage or bring it to a person that has an incinerator.

[@janicechau5482]

There was a cbc marketplace study, 2/3 recycling companies end up putting their collections into the landfill.

[@Realstormgamingofficialyt]

Makes sense about the electronics don't need batterys exploding in the truck and catching fire and the mercury going into the environment plus here where I live electronics are considered hazardous waste

[@heidimarie1198]

Here in the UK - Its every 2 weeks for everything. Including recycling. Half the time we have too much recycling that we end up taking it to the tip because the guys are told by no uncertain circumstance, take any extra recycling that is not in the designated boxes WITH lids on ( only exception is Xmas when everyone has over flow ) . It's silly really. We try and do our part only to take it to the big dump in the end !!

[@ojoo]

Great behind the scenes vid, love it.

[@DownieLive]

Thanks 👍

[@BostonBlues]

this is me everyday, love this job

[@joshuanettleton6210]

I want this in the US. All I've been taught growing up is throw all recyclables in one bin and everything else in the trash. This seems much more efficient. (Maybe some places in the US have this [haven't looked] but it's not where I live.)

[@EightPieceBox]

When recycling started where I live in the US in the late 80s there were separate bins for paper, plastic, and glass. Eventually it changed to one big bin making me think a lot of this stuff isn't getting recycled.

[@sharonsiegrist7183]

This was really interesting. Thank you!

[@healthyeyes7165]

Loved this one Mike!

[@westmibaddrivers2573]

I don't understand why this kind of system is not in place in every city in the USA with a population over 100k. It would go a long ways to helping us clean up our environment.

[@aadi4433]

Keep it up buddy ... Love it..

[@ianmcfadden4709]

thx mike that was a real good one

[@clairescott9578]

Wish the recycling infrastructure and systems in the states were more like this. Way to go Canada! Thanks Mike for sharing!

[@DownieLive]

Thanks for watching!

[@kerry848]

Thanks for such an informative video!

[@wendysuperfan1014]

Thanks Mike.

[@DirectorEvN]

I loved this!

[@seaalien]

Ohh! That was so interesting!

[@Kanadiankid]

Awesome channel Mike

[@colinjohnston5734]

I just started as a recycling driver after leaving the military and I gotta say this is a good documentary. The only thing it dose gloss over is the fact that 85% dose go to landfill after the recycling centre. Since Asia stopped taking our stuff we generally just burn it and they buried it anyways so not much change.

[@ayoung8469]

That would be so fun to do and I used to live in Burnaby but now I live in ontario

[@user-qr1dw2lp7l]

Hey bro I love your videos if u want to have a day with a construction rigger (in charge of the crane movement) I’m down

[@cherylsibson2529]

After recycling for over 40 yrs, in different parts of British Columbia now it's a good turn to pay it forward and maintain recycling, in other projects, their doing projects to cleanse the ocean of pieces of plastic on the Ocean Clean up are now to the point whereby they are making sunglasses from plastic with a tracker so that the purchaser can track their sunglasses, . or use the plastics from bottles etc to make plastic padding for children's parks etc. It's time for recycling to be re-purposed and not just recycled for the purpose of recycling. Thank you for all your years in services recycle people, lets's get this done!

[@jillpackard5305]

Informative and interesting Well done. Please do more. How about water, sewage and electricity ( ohh, solar too!)

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Call me weird but the Burnaby Eco Center looks like the coolest place ever.

[@brandonpeniuk]

Hey Mike, In Calgary, where I live, the trucks that pick up the recycling have hooks, so they can pick up the big blue bin. Thanks for sharing! I can't wait until you travel again.

[@gintama718]

Wholesome content.

[@flawlessone4227]

Make video of New park made in downtown Vancouver at smithe Street

[@BradMellalieu]

I wish I was working the day you were here!

[@BattleForTheHotel]

Great video.