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Curbside recycling idea pitched
Mac Olsen
for South Peace News
The benefits of curbside recycling are many, including a greater amount of material collected and greater convenience compared to a depot system.
Bryan Stout and Lorenzo Donini touted the benefits as part of their presentation to High Prairie town council Jan. 13.
Stout is the operations manager for Ever Green Ecological Services in Grande Prairie and Donini is a director for the company.
“We are very interested in providing the town with curbside recycling programs for residential and commercial clients. Those programs are extremely effective and unparalleled,” says Donini.
The company processes over 800 metric tonnes per month and provides approximately 150,000 pick ups per week, including recycling, organics and waste.
Other advantages include landfill cost savings of about 25 per cent of current landfill fees, as well as meeting public demand for the service.
For collection, the materials are placed in standard blue plastic bags available at grocery and hardware stores. Sorting isn’t necessary, as the materials can be mixed together. The bags are usually picked up the same day as the regular garbage, eliminating scheduling inconveniences.
Acceptable items for the blue bags include all paper, cardboard and /or boxboard; tin cans; moulded, rigid plastic containers such as the Tide bottles or any with a screw top lid; and deposit items such as milk jugs, aluminum cans and bottles.
The amount of volume will double after several months because residents see the program is working, says Stout.
Councillor Wayne Forrester asked what the fee is for the service. Donini says it’s $7 per month, per household. It includes the collection, processing and marketing of the material collected, and promotion of the programs.
High Prairie residents will appreciate the convenience of curbside recycling and be willing to pay for it, says Councillor James Waikle.
He’s had a lot of positive comments about curbside recycling and wants to promote it.
“I’m really excited, we’re going to be able to look into how viable curbside recycling is,” says Waikle.
However, the Town of High Prairie and the M.D. of Big Lakes share a contract with Alberta Recycling, so it will have to be determined how Ever Green’s plans fit with it, he adds.
For more information, please go to Ever Green’s website at www.evergreeneco.ca.
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