Success of Niagara’s recycling program worth celebrating

Niagara residents demonstrated their commitment to the environment in a big way over the past weekend.

Earth Day weekend cleanups occurred in virtually every community across the region, with young and old joining in the effort to beautify and clean up their neighbourhoods, parks and roadsides.

“It’s great seeing everybody coming out,” said Cheryl Crawley, of the St. Catharines clean city advisory committee, at the Fairview Golf Course site, one of four designated sites tackled by the group.

“People are becoming more committed to keeping their communities beautiful, they feel a little more responsibility,” said Jodi Hendricks, Pelham’s culture and community enhancement co-ordinator, at Centennial Park, where 50 volunteers were working.

Despite the depressing sight of large amounts of trash becoming visible each spring as the snow melts, it’s encouraging to see so many people pitching in.

What’s even more encouraging and is more local good news is the success of Niagara Region’s recycling program.

As reported by Karena Walter on Monday, the number of Niagara residents who recycle continues to rise, with 80 per cent of households now regularly using their blue and grey boxes. That’s up from 2011 when 74 per cent of Niagara residents regularly used the boxes, and from 2004 when the number was 58 per cent.

There’s still room for improvement, with about 13 per cent of recyclables ending up in garbage bags, says Catherine Habermebl, the Region’s waste management director.

“But 80 per cent consistently over the last few years shows that Niagara residents want to participate, they want to do the right thing,” said Habermebl.

The success of the Region’s recycling program is a testament to the hard work of regional staff, as well as the commitment of residents.

Niagara’s program is one of the most successful in Ontario, collecting among the largest variety of recyclable material, including black plastics. In Toronto, for instance, where black plastics are not collected, a leading coffee retailer has announced plans to replace its black coffee lids which cannot be collected.

Niagara has also been assiduous in development of markets for its recycled goods close to home. Many cities have been selling their recycled materials to China, but new regulations in that country have had an impact on what can be sold. Aluminum from Niagara goes to the United States, where it’s turned into more aluminum cans, plastics go to a plant in Elmira where it too is turned into usable household products.

In 2017, revenue from the Niagara material recycling facility, where material from the blue and grey boxes go, rose to $13.8 million, up from $9.4 million reported just one year previous, a $4.4 million increase.

That kind of increase is unlikely to be repeated this year, warned Habermebl, as the market fluctuates and prices are down so far in 2018. But as she points out, “Materials have inherent value. They can be re-introduced back into the manufacturing process rather than using virgin material and increasing our carbon footprint.”

Habermebl and her staff, along with the Region’s political leaders, deserve the thanks of residents for their continued commitment to the recycling program. Its impact cannot be understated. The regional program is reflective of residents, who place great value on their natural environment and recognize the geographic area in which they live — with its unique eco-system — is one of the most valuable aspects of Niagara. Protection and maintenance of Niagara’s eco-system is vitally important to the future well-being of the region and its residents and must be kept top-of-mind by bureaucrats and politicians when making decisions at every level.