I often hear comments that government should do something for recycling.
Recycling is part of waste management which is the responsibility of local governments like a city or town.
The City of Flin Flon and the Town of Creighton have supported recycling financially for almost 20 years.
Provinces make the regulations that govern how waste is disposed of.
Since the early 1990’s, Manitoba programs have reduced waste going to landfill by more than 15% while it’s population grew by 14%.
Instead of using taxpayer’s money, Manitoba requires industries whose products create recyclable waste to subsidize recycling. Beverage containers, household recyclables, tires, oil, car and household batteries, hazardous waste, and electronics are examples.
Each industry must provide financial and practical help to municipalities to make recycling programs available. Usually industries attach an environmental handling fee to their products which funds a non-profit organization to do the job.
These organizations are referred to as Producer Responsible Organizations or PRO’s for short.
Canadian Beverage Containers Recycling Association (CBCRA) provides free recycling bins for public spaces.
Multi- Material Stewardship of Manitoba (MMSM) pays a subsidy per tonne for materials recycled.
Tire Stewardship Manitoba pays fifty cents a tire for the costs of managing tire collection. Loading and shipping costs are also covered.
Call2Recycle provides free shipping boxes for household batteries.
Electronic Products Recycling Association Manitoba (EPRA) pays for storage, loading and shipping of electronics.
The Recycling Centre manages these programs at the Recycling Centre and the Flin Flon landfill. In 2014, the Centre received more than $58,000.00 from the PRO’s.
Manitoba also charges landfill operators $10.00/tonne for garbage and returns up to $8.00/tonnes based on how much the community recycles.
More information is available at greenmanitoba.ca/pros.