N.B. waste management commission considering extending recycling to apartments

MONCTON – The commission that oversees recycling in Southeastern New Brunswick is considering extending its services to apartment dwellers.

Roland LeBlanc, the director of solid waste for the Southeast Regional Service Commission said the board of directors has asked the commission to look at ways it can divert more waste from landfills.

“We figure there’s quite a bit of good recyclable material in these apartments and a lot of organic material there, and we figure there’s some in the businesses to,” he said. “So we’d like a lot more people participating in the program.”

Right now, apartment buildings with six or more units, commercial properties and institutions are exempt from any requirement to recycle, though some are voluntarily participating in programs.

The commission is also considering moving to a three-bag recycling program: a blue bag for recyclable materials, a green bag for organics and yard waste, and another bag for everything else.

But, LeBlanc said, they are still very early in the process.

“We want to talk to the haulers, the recyclers, the municipalities, the businesses, the residents, the general public, everybody, all of the stakeholders to see if there’s a will for us to do that,” he said, adding that any changes to the current system could tentatively be rolled out by the fall of 2016.

Apartment resident Dominique Coyle supports the change, telling Global News she wasn’t even aware that apartments didn’t have to recycle until she moved in to one in May.

“I recycled at my parent’s house,” she said. “We’ve always recycled. So I feel like a lot of people from here, it wouldn’t be an extra burden for them because they’ve done it before.”

Isabelle LeBlanc spokesperson for the City of Moncton confirmed Moncton, along with the other municipalities under the commission, have begun preliminary discussions about the possible changes, but nothing has been decided.

LeBlanc added that Moncton City Council has been supportive of the idea of extending recycling to apartment buildings and businesses in the past.