By Stephanie Froese

Recycling plant busy in post-Christmas season

Dec 29, 2010 | 5:33 AM

Wrapping paper, cardboard, and what used to be a big pile of presents under the tree are now a big pile of recycling that workers are out in full capacity to handle.

Duane Mohn, manager of North Central Saskatchewan Waste Management (NCSWM), said this is the busiest stretch for the team at the recycling corporation.

“There’s all that paper, all that cardboard that we tore apart under the Christmas tree. It’s got to go somewhere and thank goodness we do have a place to take it so that it doesn’t wind up just sitting in the landfill and causing problems there,” Mohn said.

Being the busiest time of the year, they’ve called in their whole staff to work at the material recovery facility.

“They took off a little bit of time over Christmas, but probably nowhere near as much as most of us did.

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They just managed to take one day plus the weekend because there’s that much that has to be done.”

Financially, Moan said there isn’t really a lot of impact on the non-profit corporation. There is a bit of recovery from the materials that are sold.

The cost of recycling is covered through the levies paid by the 12 municipalities that are part of NCSWM and ultimately funded through the tax base.

Mohn had some tips to share about recycling in this post-holiday season. Guidelines like separating the corrugated cardboard into one pile and the paper and the box board in another. Moan also reminded that people should flatten out the boxes as much as possible.

“Make sure its two things – clean and compact,” Moan said.

“Clean, because you don’t want the people who sort this stuff by hand to wind up sticking their hand into a rotten orange of something, and compact because it simply means you can get more into less space and it’s easier for you to hall and easiest for us to handle.”

With the cleanup many people will be doing as the holidays wrap-up, Moan said their biggest challenge is simply the volume.

sfroese@panow.com