Blue Box will be 25
Administrator | Dec 02, 2014 | Comments 0
Come 2015, Blue Boxes will have been heading curbside in the Quinte area for almost a quarter century.
Those who have carried its contents over these 25 years have kept roughly 276,000 metric tonnes of recyclable material out of landfill. That’s the equivalent of more than 15 million 40lb garbage bags – the weight of nearly 46,000 full-grown elephants.
“Our award-winning municipal waste diversion service has pioneered many waste diversion innovations, and it’s because residents since day-one bought into the program, and welcomed it with open arms,” said Rick Clow, General Manager for Quinte Waste Solutions, the operating name of the municipal Centre and South Hastings Waste Services Board. “We operate on a frugal budget, and are still able to expand our programs and services.”
Quinte Waste Solutions services nine municipalities including Belleville, Quinte West, Prince Edward County, Tyendinaga Township, Stirling-Rawdon, Centre Hastings, Tweed, Marmora and Lake, and Madoc Township.
“Our modest, hand-sort recovery facility in Trenton, where all of the blue box material goes, processes close to 15,000 metric tonnes of recycling each year. All of that material is staying out of landfill, and is being turned into new products we use and enjoy every day,” added Clow.
The Blue Box started in the 1980s in Southern Ontario by a few people and has grown into a service that more than 220 Ontario municipalities provide for residents, and has expanded to become an international symbol of the Green movement.
“Recycling conserves our planet’s finite natural resources, and uses less energy than sourcing raw materials to make the products we use everyday. Quinte residents can be proud to be a part of a tangible solution to our society’s waste problems.”
Filed Under: Local News
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