NEWS: Clearing away recyclables one summer festival at a time

July 21, 2010
Winnipeg Free Press

YOU might take curbside recycling collection for granted, but if you've ever quenched your thirst at the Manitoba Stampede or the Pinawa Birthday Weekend, that empty bottle or crushed can likely wound up at the dump.

That's because residential recycling programs often don't extend to Manitoba's plethora of summer festivals, and the tens of thousands of cans and bottles festival-goers leave behind.

"(Communities) get thousands of people who come to the events, purchase beverage containers, and have no recycling opportunities," said Ken Friesen, executive director of the new Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA).

The national industry group formed in April and is launching its first project in Manitoba. The Recycle Everywhere program aims to improve lagging recycling rates for beverage containers with a new blue box-recycling program and educational street teams at around 50 festivals and other events this summer. After the festival circuit, the new recycling program will expand to include parks, post-secondary institutions and arenas, among other places.

It's the first province-wide program of its kind in Canada, the CBCRA says. They're targeting plastic and glass bottles, as well as aluminum cans and tetra-pak drink boxes.

The association is aiming for 75 per cent recovery of beverage containers, a target set by the province. The current recycling rate is estimated at below 50 per cent, said Friesen.

There is no deadline for the industry to meet its goal.

The new program should mean fewer bags of trash hauled off from the Manitoba Stampede in Morris, which drew an estimated 25,000 rodeo fans last year.

"It'll make a huge difference on our grounds, for garbage collection as well," said Stampede general manager Malissa Dreger Lewis. "Giving our patrons the opportunity to dispose of things safely, rather than just to the landfill."

 

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