Originally published Jan 8/20  The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.

It is official. The total weight of paper and packaging materials recycled in 2019 is 519,375 kg or 519 metric tons or tonnes. This is 9 tonnes more than last year’s record of 510 tonnes. The previous record was 500 tonnes in 2007.

That is the big picture. It is always important to look at the details for a better picture.

The numbers for the different materials are:  Aluminum 6,413 kg, Commingled materials (sorted in Winnipeg) 131,912 kg, Corrugated cardboard 286,134 kg, Glass 50,972 kg, Office paper 35,521 kg and Books and other items 8,423 kg. (1,000 kg makes one tonne.)

The biggest increase was 13.3 tonnes in corrugated cardboard. Most cardboard comes from businesses, so more are recycling. There is also more cardboard coming from homes with online shopping.  

The two materials that decreased last year continued the trend in 2019.

Office paper was down one and a half tonnes.

The drop in commingled materials excluding aluminum continues. This is mostly the recyclables coming from homes. It has consistently been down by 11 – 12 tonnes for the year since July.

This category dropped when compared to the previous year for the first time in 2018.

We obviously did not achieve our goal of reversing this trend in 2019.

I have written about reasons before including fewer homes recycling, less paper (fiber) materials and people reducing how much waste they produce.

I think there is room to reverse this trend even if less fiber products and homes creating less waste are the cause.

There are still many homes and work places who are not recycling.
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We encourage nonrecyclers to make it a habit in 2020. 

  Originally published Jan 2/20  The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.

Every industry and organization develops a language of initials that those who work within understand but leaves those outside with questions.
 
Here is a little quiz

1. OCC
2. FFDEC
3. EPRA
4. HHW
5. HDPE
6. MMSM
7. CBCRA
8. MARR
9. PETE
10. PPM

 
___   a) commingled recyclables mostly from homes which are sorted in Winnipeg.
___ b) Provincial grassroots organization of municipal officials, employees and recycling operators.
___ c) The local non-profit organization that runs the Recycling Centre in Flin Flon.
___ d) Half of all the materials collected at the Flin Flon Recycling Centre is this material.
___ e) The plastic that shampoo bottles and milk jugs are made of
___ f) The industry funded organization that pays for electronics recycling.
___ g) Materials that must be disposed of carefully to prevent great harm to the environment.
___ h) The plastic that drink bottles and strawberry clam shells are made of.
___ i) The industry funded organization that subsidizes household recycling.  
___ j) the industry funded organization that provides free recycling bins for public spaces.

Answers:

1. -  d) Old Corrugated Cardboard
2. – c) Flin Flon & District Environment Council, Inc.
3. – f) Electronic Products Recycling Association
4. - g) Household Hazardous waste
5. – e) High density polyethylene

 
    6.     – i) Multi Material Stewardship of Mb.
​    7.     – j) Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association
    8.    – b) Manitoba Association of Regional Recyclers.
    9.    – h) Polyethylene terephthalate
   10.   – a) Print and Packaging materials 

Originally published Dec 18/19 The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.

The following are current issues for recycling:

1. Red bag curbside pickup service

This service has been under review as it is not covering costs. Usage has gone up slightly. Several have let us know they depend on the service. The current deficit is just under $130.00 for the year which does not threaten the financial stability of the recycling program.

On the other hand, recycling is managing financially in these challenging times because the Board has made realistic decisions for fees and expenditures.
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There will be more information after the January 16 Board meeting. The service will continue Wednesday mornings until further notice.

  2.  Commingled tonnage decrease.

Commingled materials are the packaging and print materials (PPM) that are baled together and shipped to Winnipeg for sorting. This tonnage is down 10.7 tonnes compared to the end of November 2018 and over 17 tonnes from the same time in 2017.

There was an increase of seven tonnes in 2017, the year curbside pickup began in Denare Beach.

This tonnage determines our subsidy. Fortunately, we can include our cardboard tonnage which is up.

A major factor is the drop in amount of newspaper. It was separated and sold until April 2017 when there was not longer enough to make it feasible. The overall percentage of paper/boxboard (fibre) materials in the mix has fallen. It weighs more than plastics.

This doesn’t explain all of the decrease as there were 29 fewer bales between 2018 and 2019. It could be that people are reducing their waste which is a good thing. It could also be that fewer people are recycling. Many have not yet started recycling.
 
We will be working to change this trend in 2020.

December total – 39,975 kg
       
        Aluminum – 487 kg
        Commingled* - 10,629 kg
        Office Paper – 1,842 kg
        Cardboard – 22,186 kg
        Glass – 4,114 kg
        Books – 717 kg
        Other plastics –

Total for 2019 – 519,375 kg
Total for 2018 – 510,361 kg
Difference – 9,014 kg
 
Batteries – 36 kg

* Co-mingled is unsorted materials sent to Winnipeg for sorting

Comments –  This is a new record bettering our record breaking year last year by just over 9 tonnes. The increases were in corrugated cardboard (13.3 metric tons or tonnes), aluminum (2.1 tonnes), glass (5.1 tonnes) and miscellaneous materials like books (1.9 tonnes). Office paper was down 1.5 tonnes and the commingled materials (paper and packaging materials) was down 12 tonnes which is concerning. 

There are several possible reasons - less paper materials so the weights are lighter, people reducing the amount of stuff they get so there is less to recycle (which is a good thing) or fewer households recycling as people move away or stop recycling. It is probably a combination of all four.

It is encouraging that size of the reduced weights over  previous years did not increase month over month beginning in July.  

There are still many households and businesses that are not recycling so we definitely can still grow.