As Calgarians are getting back to their routines after busy Christmas holidays, workers at the City of Calgary’s Waste and Recycling Services are well into their busiest time of the year.
“This time of year we see a 50 to 75 per cent increase in the amount of material,” spokesperson Sharon Howland said on Thursday.
Howland said at the beginning of a normal day, there are barely any materials on the sorting floor, but after Christmas the floor is nearly covered as soon as they walk in.
“We’re seeing well over 100 truckloads a day,” she said. “Often times what’s happening is the residential drivers have to go out and do a second load from their route because they can’t get the whole thing done in one go.”
Howland said people are working longer hours and extra days to try to catch up, with employees sorting from 7:30 a.m. until 8 p.m.
“We can do about 40 tons an hour of material — that’s about five truckloads an hour,” she said. “Because there’s just so much material with that 50 to 75 per cent increase, it’ll take us to about the third week of January to catch up from the two weeks of madness at Christmas.”
Howland said at first glance, the demand does seem busier this year than last year. She said 80 per cent of the material being recycled is cardboard and paper.
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One thing that tends to slow the process down is what Howland called “tanglers and danglers” — things like Christmas tree lights, garland, extension cords and ribbon.
“Those tanglers and danglers actually form something that we call a hairball here at the facility,” Howland said.
According to The Canadian Press, Alberta produces the most waste per person, at almost 1,000 kilograms per year.
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