WESTLOCK – People are not recycling what they should so the Westlock Regional Waste Management Commission is upping the ante and will charge double the tipping fee for people who don’t.
In a recent post on social media, WRWMC manager Tom Moore said too much cardboard, plastic, metal, and paper is going into the landfill and is costing the landfill thousands of dollars a year in landfill space. Staff have been directed to monitor loads closely and anyone or any business, that doesn’t recycle their materials will be charged double the tipping fee at the landfill directly.
“I’ve gotten to the point where it’s not fair that taxpayers are paying for people that aren’t wanting to recycle and a lot of them are recycling. So those individuals that have decided not to recycle should be paying the extra costs, above what the municipality’s paying,” said Moore.
“The cost of landfilling waste is getting very, very expensive,” he added, noting recycle programs at the facility, as well as residential pickup in the Town of Westlock and Village of Clyde. “The challenge is that we keep expanding our recycle facility here…in order to try and keep the costs of landfill replacement down. Since I’ve been here, I’ve actually extended the life of our landfill cell that we’re currently active in by two more years, but by recycling and doing a better job we can extend the life even longer.”
Moore said that while most residents do make the effort to recycle properly, there are both businesses and residents that seemingly do not want to or think that it is not necessary.
“What we’re trying to do is let them know that if they’re not willing to, then they have to be the ones responsible for paying the cost,” explained Moore, noting they have been focused on educating citizens about the need for recycling over the past four to five years, providing handouts and information, speaking with people and expanding the recycling program.
The recycling program at the Westlock Regional Waste facility is located at the landfill and has been in place at the facility for about 20 years. They have a building that takes paper, cardboard, plastic, and tin cans. There are also areas for all electronics, tires, paints, metal, appliances, batteries, and (fluorescent) bulbs.
According to the WRWMC website, their goal is to recycle and divert at least 60 per cent of waste away from the landfill but are currently only at about 35 per cent. Moore stressed the need to recycle and reduce the amount of landfill space that’s being taken up with recyclable items.
“We see loads that come in that, probably 50 per cent or more is actually recyclable — it’s metal, cardboard, plastic, electronics, all stuff that we can recycle on some level.”
