Manitoba City Closing Recycling Center

The Westman Recycling Council will shut down and lay off its 25 employees at the end of the month now that the city has decided to hire a private company to handle recycling in Brandon, Manitoba.

“We’re disappointed that it’s taken this turn,” Westman Recycling general manager David McConkey said after the city council decision.

“We didn’t think it would end up this way when the city came to us five years ago with an idea, a vision of an environmental and economic development.”

Several city councillors said they regretted the decision, but had little choice as the services offered by International Paper Industries cost less than half of those offered by Westman Recycling.

Over five years, the IPI proposal would cost the city $1.3 million. The Westman Recycling proposal would cost $2.8 million.

Westman Recycling has been losing money since last fall, and the city agreed to support it with an extra $25,000 per month last November.

Several factors contributed to the economic downturn for the non-profit recycling organization.

The province recently reduced the amount it pays for recycled materials, people in Brandon have been recycling less than they used to, and the market for recycled cardboard recently crashed.

Larger recycling companies with deeper pockets have been able to withstand the cardboard market crash.

IPI provides recycling service to 3.7 million Canadians in various municipalities, including Winnipeg.

Mayor Dave Burgess said the city has not yet signed a contract with IPI, but they have an “agreement in principle.”

With layoffs looming for Westman Recycling’s employees on Feb. 28, Burgess wouldn’t say exactly how the city will offer recycling service on March 1.

“Those details will have to be dealt with, but as far as recycling, it will continue really without any stop at all,” he said. Brandon (Canada) Sun