A third R, as in Recycling

by Benoît Bleau translated by Sheila Lord  (February 2012)

The citizens of the Village and Township of Hemmingford are familiar with this practice as they were pioneers in this, having built one of the first sorting centres in Quebec in the early 90’s. We nevertheless had to wait until January 2008 before house-to-house collection was introduced.

Why recycle? In 2006 Canadians sent 25 million tons of garbage to waste sites which is the equivalent of a kilometer of garbage covering 23 football fields. According to a study, 70% of our domestic waste can be recycled or composted; unfortunately only 25% is. Some municipalities have already reached 60% (Victoriaville even higher). Governments are putting more and more pressure on manufacturers to make their products completely recyclable.

Recycling is not only ecologically correct; it can also become an interesting source of revenue. The sale of recyclable articles collected in the city of Ottawa alone in one year has generated revenues of 8 million dollars with- out taking into account the savings in landfill costs and in pollution avoided, the latter being rather more difficult to calculate. We do not often realize the economic impact of landfill sites and of the uncontrolled dumping of toxic material into the environment as these costs never show in the balance-sheets of municipalities or nations. For example, in 2004, Canadians bought 450 million dry cell batteries which represents 15,000 tons. Barely 350 tons were recycled, and sales increase each year by 7% because of the masses of everyday articles which are battery-operated. As we all know, these batteries contain lead and mercury which are extremely toxic for humans, animals,soilandwater. It is only a question of time until this pollution catches us up.

This is what we can do:

• Make profitable use of the 360 litre blue cans. These  cans were intended for an initial sorting of Fibre – paper and cardboard on the one hand, and VPM – glass, plastic and metal on the other. It is no longer necessary to do this sorting, as everything is tipped into the collection truck and the sorting is then carried out at the plant. Thus there is one thing less to think about.
• Watch for days when there is a collection at the municipal garage of hazardous items such as paint, used motor oil, electronic material, batteries, tires, light bulbs and fluorescent light tubes.
• Take articles and clothing still usable to the St-Romain Comptoir Familial at 544 Frontier Street
• Compost table and garden waste
• Take the following products to the collection points indicated: