Introduction and History of Recycle Plus

Past, Present & Future...

Past

Recycle Plus began as the Grande Prairie Bottle Depot. The employees noticed that they were discarding a lot of cardboard from their customers and thought that we should be recycling it instead of sending it to the landfill. Cardboard was then accepted from commercial outlets and the program expanded to newspaper collection.

In 1995, 37 municipalities in Northern Alberta got together to discuss establishing a regional recycling centre and find a company who could provide a regional recycling program. Recycle Plus in Grande Prairie was the obvious choice due to its central location and the business's proven professional track record. In the first year (1995) 11 municipalities came on board and in the second year there were 19.

Present

Today, there are more than 60 municipalities participating in the program, ranging north to Manning, AB, west to Hudson's Hope, BC, south to Grande Cache, AB and east to Swan Hills, AB. Recycle Plus operates a unique regional recycling program that is geographically the largest of it's kind in the entire world covering over 200,000 square kilometers and is still expanding. The Recycle Plus program is capable of recycling and removing more than 75% of the residential waste stream from landfills. What really aids in the success of the program is having community leaders who understand the program as a partnership for waste diversion and are also committed to it's success.

The program is simple. For a fixed monthly fee from each participating community (based on the number of dwellings in that community) we provide installation of bins, and regular collection from recycling depots. The program collects, processes and markets material such as Mixed Paper including newspaper, magazines, envelopes, white and colored paper, Tin Cans, Glass, and Plastic #'s 1,2,4 & 5, film and most recently milk cartons. As sustainable markets expand so does the menu of eligible material offered to the communities it serves. The mixed paper is sorted into newspaper and other paper. The glass is crushed into a ¾" cullet and shipped to Airdrie, AB. The tin is removed from the plastics with the help of a magnet and the milk jugs, milk cartons and aluminum cans are then hand sorted out of the mix. By the end of the process there are 10 different commodities to send to market (including lumberwrap that we receive from some commercial customers). As of the end of 2003 Recycle Plus has processed over 8798 metric tonnes of material and still going strong.

Using a 80 ft. crane mounted B train collection unit: the program is able to service up to 10 small to medium sized communities per route, thus finding efficiencies and passing them on to the communities keeping their service fees very low. Igloo shaped drop-off recycling bins are placed in convenient locations such as grocery stores to maximize usage. As the bins are emptied into the collection truck, the driver estimates how much recyclable material is picked up from each site. When the truck is full and weighed in, the actual weight and the estimated volumes are used to determine how much each depot is generating. Using this data, Recycle Plus is able to predict when the bins will be full and arrange for a pick-up on a timely schedule.

Recycle Plus works closely with its communities in promotions and education. The Public Relations Coordinator offers school presentations suited to a grade four level to any school in the region that has a recycling depot in their community. School contests relating to recycling with some great prizes are offered throughout the year and plant tours are available by request.

FUTURE

Looking ahead the future continues to look bright for Recycle Plus. Updated equipment with less manual sorting is in the works, there may also be on the horizon, a new Bottle Depot. Recycling is becoming a household routine in the region and there is every reason to expect it to continue to grow, as education becomes a major focus for both parents and children of the region.