Northumberland County’s new recycling programs delayed several months

Two major recycling programs in Northumberland County set to launch next month have been delayed.

The county’s new Green Bin food waste collection program and the Recycle Right (Grey and Blue box) recyclables program were scheduled to be launched in September. However, the county stated they have been delayed due to “unforeseen circumstances.”

The programs are part of the county’s Long Term Waste-Management Master Plan, to keep 75 per cent of resident-generated waste out of landfills. The new launch date for both programs  is now set to Dec 2

“The delay in the launch of these new waste diversion programs is unfortunate,” stated Northumberland County Warden John Logel. “We appreciate the public’s patience as we work closely with our contractor partners to ensure residents are able to take full advantage of these programs before the end of 2019.

“The County continues to look forward to the positive environmental benefits that the Green Bin and Recycle Right programs will generate once in place this December.”

The Green Bin program will introduce curbside collection for food waste, which would send food waste generated by a household to compost instead of landfill.

The Recycle Right program, using blue and grey boxes, will turn the county’s recycling plan into a dual stream model, allowing paper and paper packaging to be separated from plastic, metal, and glass.

Despite the delay, the county is advising residents to begin separating their recyclables once their blue and grey boxes arrive. However, residents are advised not to begin taking out food waste in green bins, as collection will not start for them until the December launch.

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Not many municipalities have a dual-stream recycling program in place, though there is one already in effect in neighbouring Peterborough, according to the city’s manager of environmental services, James Istchenko.

Istchenko says the dual-stream system is less labour-intensive, meaning less money is spent on sorting recyclables and further processing them at recycling plants. The dual-stream system also increases the value that a municipality can get out of its recyclables, according to Istchenko, since the risk of cross-contamination is lower.

Northumberland County started rolling out the green, blue, and grey bins in June. All green bins are expected to be delivered by the end of August, with all blue and grey boxes delivered by the end of October.

The county anticipates the Green Bin program to annually divert 2,000 tonnes of food waste from landfill, and the Grey and Blue Box program to divert an additional 1,000 tonnes of recyclables.