By Chad Ingram

Highlands Environmental the company in charge of Minden Hills’s landfills wants to run a test pilot program for compacting recyclables.

Brigitte Gall and Paul Barclay of Highlands Environmental made a presentation to Minden Hills councillors during their Feb. 11 committee-of-the-whole meeting.

“We know that we have a largely tourism-based economy here” Gall said. “There is more and more material being brought into your landfills.”
Gall said this surge of materials happens not just during the busy summer months pointing to the large volume of recycling that came in following the Christmas holidays.
“That increase also creates an increase in bin transfers” Gall said.
The municipality pays by the bin not weight when recycling is transported to processing facilities.
It costs $180 per bin of plastic and glass and $160 per bin of cardboard and fibre and $80 per bin for weekend bin switches.

For the 2014/15 budget year Minden Hills spent approximately $71880 on transport and transfer fees.
By compacting the recycling – the compacting fee per bin would be $50 – Highlands Environmental believes the township could save $30000 a year on its transport and transfer fees.
Gall said the compaction rate for glass and plastic is three-to-one and two-to-one for plastic and glass.
The company is suggesting a March-to-August test pilot which would help provide an idea of how much recyclable waste is being generated not just through summer the spring shoulder season as well.
“We’re not reinventing the wheel we’re not doing anything that other municipalities aren’t doing locally” Gall said.

“Philosophically the compactors save money there’s no argument here” said Reeve Brent Devolin.
Devolin said the issue for the township would be logistics and cost.