Increase revenue from waste

The recent audit by Stewardship Ontario found some glaring holes in the way Fort Frances handles its recycling program.
Currently, the municipality collects all recycling waste into one stream and ships it off to a plant in Winnipeg where it is recycled.
The town is on the hook for all costs although it does receive a grant from the province. The town receives no value for the recycled material.
The Town of Fort Frances only recovers 33 percent of the recycled material in the community.
Any improvements to the system will have to be shared by the taxpayers. Other jurisdictions in the province, by sorting the waste locally, are receiving as much as $135 per tonne for paper and newsprint and 34¢ a pound for aluminum. They also are paid handsomely for tin cans.
Newspapers such as the Fort Frances Times are required to submit funding ($94 per ton) to Waste Diversion Ontario that will be used by the local municipality for promoting recycling in the municipality.
If the town really wants value out of their recycling program, they are going to have to improve their efficiency in retrieving value from the waste and also increase the volume of material that goes into the “blue box.”
The money is there for promotion of the “blue box” program. Other money is available through the Improvement Plan of Stewardship Ontario to improve the handling of “blue box” materials.
The report makes many recommendations including the town becoming a regional transfer facility.
Before the town looks to charge residents more for the mandated provincial program, council and its management should examine every avenue available to increase revenue from the waste.