The local recycling program has benefited greatly from the willingness of others to share.
In the beginning, information from Thompson and Portage recyclers about where to ship recyclables and about equipment, pricing and processes was very helpful as our program grew.
Our first three loads were shipped to Winnipeg. Healthy Flin Flon paid for shipping costs for the first load. The company we sent the paper to paid the shipping for two more loads.
Prices were very high in December, 1994 when we moved indoors. Thompson was shipping their bales to Edmonton. They got a great shipping rate on the truck that delivered oil products to Northern Manitoba as the company was happy they didn’t travel back empty.
Thompson was willing to share shipping with us. It worked well as the truck came through Flin Flon. Our materials were packed in large boxes which sold at a different price than their bales, making it easy to separate the revenue. Thompson paid the shipping and received the money from the sale and sent us a cheque for the revenue for the boxed materials minus half of the shipping costs.
The challenge was finding someone in town who could share their forklift for loading. It needed to be at the Recycling Centre when the truck arrived (usually late in the day) so the truck wouldn’t have to wait.
This was the process for over a year although we were able to purchase a forklift which made shipping much easier.
Things changed in the fall of 1996 as we purchased a baler and Thompson began shipping to Winnipeg. Their willingness to share information made it easy for us to do the same.