Open house offers businesses look at recycling options

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on February 1, 2023.

Herald photo by Al Beeber Dave Graham of The Curbside Recycler talks to Kaile Beswick about his company's services at an open house Tuesday at City Hall.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

An open house on Tuesday at City Hall gave businesses an opportunity to learn about options for the mandatory recycling and organics programs that have been implemented here.

Large-scale and smaller companies had tables set up in the foyer offering businesses a wide range of information on available services and costs.

Felipe Pereira de Albuquerque, a waste diversion engineer with the City, said early discussions with visitors to the open house were positive.

“The feeling I have is the same that I had when we attended the Community Conversation at the Enmax – that people are sometimes kind of afraid of what they don’t know.”

He said some aren’t aware of the available options and that some “are very affordable. Some options can even allow them to save money,” the said.

At the open house, people can have those options explained to them and they learn that waste bills aren’t necessarily going to increase,” he said.

Dave Graham, who runs the The Curbside Recycler, said the program gives private enterprise a chance to get involved.

“The more you can do to let people know what’s going on the better it’s going to be. The ultimate thing is to get more people recycling and getting their organics composting and stuff like that. Anything you can do to increase that I think that’s a good thing,” said Graham.

“Especially with the city now doing residential stuff where a number of private companies have been doing that, this is another opportunity for us to continue to do what we do., added Graham, whose company had several hundred residential customers before the City took over that part of the recycling business.

“We’ve kind of pivoted more to commercial and businesses and that sort of thing,” said Graham, whose company has operated here for about 15 years.

Patrick Meynders and his son Preston of LitterBug Waste Disposal Services, were another company at the event.

The company called the open house a great opportunity to sell their various services and show what they “can bring to the table,” said Preston.

LitterBug has been in the waste and recycling industry since 1993 and has been servicing southern Alberta since 2012.

Preston said the idea of mandatory programs is “a little bit scary at first. It’s kind of a learning curve for everybody and once you start talking and moving forward” people realize there are solutions that can make everyone happy.

The city is home to more than 2,900 businesses, private organizations and institutions. According to the City, “whether large, small, family-owned, part of a national corporation, for-profit or a charitable organization, businesses fall under the Mandatory Recycling and Organics provisions” within Waste Bylaw 6146.

Two-thirds to three quarters of waste generated each year in Lethbridge, according to city audits, historically has been by the industrial, commercial, institutional, construction and demolition sectors.

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