The City of Weyburn recently hosted an information meeting about the coming curbside blue-bin recycling program for the residential sector, as city officials were on hand to answer any concerns or questions city residents might have before council makes a decision as to which company will provide the service to them.
The meeting wasn’t about if there will be a curbside recycling program, but when, with an extensive list of what will be accepted for recycling provided to residents.
This is a very good thing that Weyburn is doing, but the sad thing is, the city is far, far behind the rest of the province in providing this service.
In fact, part of the information provided to the residents was a very long list of all the municipalities in Saskatchewan who already provide blue-bin recycling, including all of the other cities, and several dozen much smaller communities than Weyburn.
Coun. Dick Michel pulled no punches about his frustration over the fact Weyburn is only just now arranging to set up this program, saying “it’s embarrassing” that Weyburn as of yet does not have such a program.
He also pointed out that it is due to the city’s “foot-dragging” that a number of residents have resorted to paying a company to do the recycling, such as Goliath or Blue Earth. The question of how these people will be handled once the city decides on a contractor has not been determined, as understandably they are concerned they might be double-charged if their company is not the one chosen to provide the curbside service here.
It doesn’t make any sense that there has been such a delay in getting recycling here. As all of our children are taught in school, recycling is a good thing for our planet, and specifically, it’s a good thing for our landfill, as it keeps recyclable materials out of the landfill. Currently there are many things going into the landfill right now that should be recycled, from plastic containers to even paper and cardboard.
It will take some public education to get people used to the idea of placing glass, tin, paper and plastics into the blue bin and not into their household garbage bin. Some people may not be convinced that it’s worth the effort, but they are not thinking about the long-term effects on our landfill. At some point, it will be filled up and the City will have to find another location, which will be a very difficult task as no one will want a dump in their back yard or near their property. Once we have full recycling, our landfill will last a lot longer. — Greg Nikkel
