Recycling worry for Russell Township’s mayor
Mayor Pierre Leroux is worried that Russell Township may face a crisis in the future for its recycling program.
The mayor brought up the subject during the open discussion period near the close of the February 20 township council session. He told council about the results of a recent meeting in North Glengarry with officials for the company that handles the final collection of all the recyclable materials which come from Russell Township.
“A very large percentage of all the recyclables in the world is sold to China,” Leroux said. “But now China says that it may not be buying as much (recyclables) now.”
Leroux noted that recycling collection and processing agencies may soon face a disposal problem for their supplies. With China talking about cutting back on its purchase of recyclable materials, there could be a scramble to find new markets and that may become a problem.
“Nobody’s buying all this recycled material anymore,” explained Leroux. He added that the companies that collect and process recyclable materials may have to consider cutting back on their own operations, if they can’t find new markets for their supplies.
“At the end of the day, it’s going to hit us too,” said Leroux. “There is a (potential) crisis here, and it’s not just a municipality of Russell crisis. It’s an Ontario crisis, a Canada crisis.”
The provincial government has told municipalities that they need to reduce the amount of garbage going into their landfills. That has been a major spur to encourage both local recycling programs and also various corporate recycling projects to deal with old tires, used paint and other products. The problem is what to do with recyclable materials if there are fewer markets for them.
“I’ve heard stories that some municipalities are going to start burying it again,” Leroux commented, regarding options for dealing with unwanted recyclables. “It’s not something you want to hear. This is a problem that is not going to go away.”
Mayor Leroux announced that he will ask the township’s environmental and recycling advisory committee to look into the situation and provide council and administration with ideas and recommendations.
“We all need to start working together,” he claimed.