Flagstaff Waste rolls out recycling program in Killam and Sedgewick

As Flagstaff Waste announced the closure of some of the transfer sites in the region, they also announced that Killam and Sedgewick, both of whose sites would be closed, were looking into a blue bag recycling pilot.

As at last Thursday, April 6, that pilot made its first run to pick up recycling in both towns.

David Dahl, who is heading the recycling program at Flagstaff Waste, was ecstatic at the response.

In Killam, he says, 22 households participated, with 44 blue bags and 10 cardboard stacks underneath. The total amount recycled in Killam weighed 180 kg.

Dahl says, “The majority of households were in the one to three bag range. One superstar recycler had eight bags! I think the volume speaks to just how late we put the concrete information out. I believe the next offering of the program will have a lot more blue bags per household as they have the next four weeks to stockpile.”

Dahl notes that an occasional bag contained a plastic clamshell, but no bags were refused.

In Sedgewick, 21 households participated, with 44 blue bags, and six cardboard stacks beneath, with a total weight of 140 kg.

There, too, households were between one and three bags, and because Thursday is also Sedgewick’s normal garbage pickup day, the recycling truck grabbed cardboard out of seven household garbage piles that may normally have ended up in the landfill, Dahl says.

Sedgewick, too, had very good looking blue bags, says Dahl, with no bags refused.

He did have one warning for Killam residents, that pickup will start at 8 a.m. next time around, as advertised.

Dahl says all the feedback he has received has been very positive, both from public works employees, administration, and residents.

“Once both loads of recycing were back at the landfill, we were able to dump the recyclables out, take one last look for contamination, pull out the big folded pieces of cardboard for our normal cardboard program and then bale the remaining product.

This resulted in one really good looking bale!

“Overall, it was an extremely positive first outing and I believe as word gets out and we see more participation the program will lead to a noticeable reduction in waste that is being currently collected from the towns of Killam and Sedgewick.”