WINNIPEG, MB - Mayor Sam Katz today announced that four Community Resource Recovery Centres will be built in the City of Winnipeg in 2013 and 2014. The centres will accept materials that can be resold, recycled, composted or reused, such as bulky waste, household hazardous waste, construction materials, wood, metals, electronic waste and yard waste.
“The City of Winnipeg is committed to improving Winnipeg’s record on recycling,” said Mayor Sam Katz, speaking at the City of Winnipeg’s Water and Waste facility on Pacific Avenue, close to the site for one of the new recycling centres. “The idea behind these centres is to make drop-off convenient for Winnipeggers, so that we can divert reusable material from the landfill and see that others are able to make good use of it.”
Since the implementation of the City’s new garbage and recycling system in August, the amount of recycling material collected has gone up by about 30 per cent, or more than 2,000 tonnes, compared to the same period last year.
In addition, the new program has diverted about 9,000 tonnes of yard waste that would otherwise have gone to the landfill.
“We are committed to seeing these recycling centres built,” said Deputy Mayor Russ Wyatt, Chair of the Standing Policy Committee on Finance and Chair of the Mayor’s Environmental Advisory Committee. “We are setting aside the funds in our Capital Budget to ensure that we continue the progress we have already made under our waste minimization strategy in diverting materials from the landfill.”
“I know that Winnipeggers will appreciate having additional drop-off options for bulky waste and other household materials,” said Mike Pagtakhan (Point Douglas). “With these centres, we’re making it easier for people to make a choice that’s good for the environment.”
One centre will be built in each quadrant of the City. The first two centres will be built at Pacific Avenue, just west of McPhillips Street, and at the Brady Road Resource Management Facility. Sites for the remaining two centres (east and west areas), have not yet been selected. Each centre will keep up to 10,000 tonnes of material out of the landfill each year.
Community Resource Recovery centres are part of the City of Winnipeg’s Garbage and Recycling Master Plan as identified in OurWinnipeg. Completion of the first two centres is expected to cost $7.2 million. Funding for all four centres is to be set aside in the 2013 Capital Budget and in the 2014-2018 Capital Budget Forecast.