Curbside recycling in St. John River Valley voluntary for landlords
Residents in multi-unit dwellings like townhouses and apartment buildings will have curbside recycling by the summer.
Circular Materials Atlantic, which has the recycling contract for the St. John River Valley, asked multi-unit landlords to sign up for the service by Jan. 31 to ensure their buildings can get recycling pickups in May. Multi-unit owners and managers in the region who may have missed the first deadline can now sign up before May 30 to ensure they get service by Nov. 1.
“Circular Materials is encouraged by the high uptake we’ve seen in this first phase of registrations across the province. We recognize it will be a phased process to make owners and landlords aware, answer their questions and bring them onto the program. That is why the registry will always be open, and we look forward to announcing future service cadences,” said Andrew Philopoulos, Managing Director, Atlantic, Circular Materials.
The organization is encouraging multi-family landlords and managers to register at circularmaterials.ca/NBMultifam.
Leading up to the new service, large community recycle bins located throughout the river valley have been removed, leaving apartment dwellers without a recycling option until late spring.
“It was a board decision, a budget decision,” said Fred Thompson-Brown, Director of Environmental Health and Public Safety for the Western Valley Regional Service Commission.
Seven recycle bins were stationed in Woodstock, Perth-Andover, Florenceville-Bristol, Meductic, Canterbury, and North Lake.
“The cost of that service doubled in price, and there had been issues with them, as well,” he added, noting that regular garbage and items that can’t be recycled, like vinyl siding, were often stuffed into the bins.
Those looking for an alternative way to recycle until the new multi-unit bins are installed in late spring are out of luck.
Even if you live in an apartment and save your recyclables, the Southern Valley Transfer Station, operated by J.S. Bellis, can’t legally accept material ‘off the street.’
“We have machinery in that area all the time. It’s not safe to have folks coming in and dumping recyclables,” said Randy McLean, J.S. Bellis Operations Manager.
Municipalities in the St. John River Valley have not made it mandatory for multi-family units to institute curbside recycling, but Thompson-Brown hopes many landlords register for the service.
“It’s a win-win,” he said. “There is no cost to property owners, and it will reduce their own waste amounts, which will cost them less (for garbage removal) in the end.”
