Fort Frances leads way in recycling

Residents in Fort Frances have been leading the way when it comes to recycling.
“Fort Frances really participates the best of all the municipalities. We have over 80 percent participation and that’s excellent,” said Cindy Buttner of Buttner Enterprises Inc., which handles the Blue Box pickups here.
Buttner noted the entire Rainy River District participates more than other areas in the Northwest Ontario Recycling Association’s jurisdiction, with Fort Frances setting a strong example.
“I can say 80 percent for sure because I did a survey a while back and I would say it’s higher than that now,” Buttner said. “There is an increase in the number of people who are recycling and in the amount of material they are putting out.”
Fort Frances has had the highest participation rate, per capita, for a number of years, and local residents have continued to put out more recyclable material than other communities despite the implementation of “bag tags” in several other towns, including Kenora and Dryden.
Recycling is on the rise in those municipalities now that residents have to pay for their garbage pickups but recycling here also is on the rise without the same incentive.
“We’re recycling particularly well considering the fact that there is no incentive such as charging for bag tags,” said Buttner. “We’ve been exceeding other municipalities for years and we’re successful without incentive, which is a really good sign.”
To date, there has been no indication the town is interested in implementing a bag-tag program here.
Because of the high participation here, crews picking up the Blue Boxes are on a very tight schedule.
After missing consecutive Mondays due to Christmas and New Year’s Day, and losing one truck to mechanical problems for 24 hours, crews were left scrambling to catch up to their regular schedule.
To alleviate the problems, NORA will extend the Fort Frances pickup times from two days a week to three starting Feb. 5.
On Mondays, recycling will be picked up at homes in the area north of Scott Street and east of Portage Avenue. On Tuesdays, it will be picked up south of Scott Street and east of Portage Avenue, and at all homes north of the railway tracks.
Wednesday’s pickup will be west of Portage Avenue and south of the railway tracks.