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Battleford hopes to have curbside recycling this fall

Jun 28, 2016 | 2:00 PM

Residents of Battleford who don’t already have curbside recycling will soon be getting it.

The town is moving forward with rollout recycling bins which will be mandatory for every home. John Enns-Wind, the city’s chief administrative officer, explained the new program will add a fee of $5.25/month to utility bills, but said the amount is designed to be revenue-neutral. Currently residents can arrange for private recycling collection.

Enns-Wind said council hopes to have the system in place by September, following the selection of a contractor.

“We have to get the contracts signed, they have to order the carts, and it’ll take a couple months for those to be delivered,” he said. “As this is going on we need to inform and educate the public about what the changes mean and how the program is going to be implemented.”

Enns-Wind said there were a number of reasons to move forward. The new program will eliminate the need for the communal recycling depot, divert waste from the landfill and improve the look of the community. He added the town would be eligible for compensation from the provincial Multi-Material Recycling Program, which shifts part of the financial responsibility for municipal recycling onto companies that produce recyclable waste.

Enns-Wind doesn’t expect any difficulties with the rollout bins because similar bins are already in use for garbage and compost.

“The adjustment will be, this is another one on another day of the week,” he said. “For some homes it’s where do you put the third cart? So there’s always a bit of a transition. But Battleford’s fairly used to the cart system, rolling it out, and the solutions people have found living on a steep incline will work for the recycling one as well.”

Details had not yet been worked out surrounding whether businesses would be included in the system. Enns-Wind said typically, apartment buildings are not part of such programs.

 

Geoff Smith is battlefordsNOW’s News Director, business and agriculture reporter. He can be reached at gsmith@jpbg.ca or tweet him @smithco. Concerns regarding this story can be addressed to Geoff at 306-446-6397.