New depot bin for glass

Fort Frances Public Works has replaced the blue-coloured glass depot bins with a new green dumpster to make glass recycling more efficient for residents and staff alike.
The new bin is a full-size dumpster with a large opening on the front which provides easy access for residents to dump their glass in.
“We haven’t changed the location of the bottle return–we’ve just replaced it with a new system,” said Doug Herr, the engineering technologist with Public Works.
The glass depot is located in the same place as the previous bins (behind the Public Works building at the corner of Fifth Street West and Wright Avenue).
However, it’s not as visible from Fifth Street West as the old blue recycling containers, which is causing some confusion for people.
“The main problem is we have been receiving some phone calls from people because they think we’ve moved it [the glass depot],” noted Herr. “[But] they just can’t see it from the road when they drive by.”
The reason the dumpster isn’t visible from the road is because it’s set back behind the fence, but the opening is accessible from in front of the fence.
A small sign is affixed to the top of the dumpster, labelling it as a glass drop-off station, to help eliminate any confusion as to where the bottles go.
A much larger sign is on order and should be visible from the road. It will be installed upon its arrival later this month.
Public Works also has tidied up the yard around the glass depot area—and hopes residents will respect the grounds.
“We ask that people keep the area clean,” stressed Herr. “Please take your garbage with you when you’re done or put it in the garbage container to the right of the dumpster.”
In prior months, Public Works staff have had to deal with added mess from people dumping waste that doesn’t belong at the site. They also are tired of people who don’t take the time to sort their products properly.
“It takes a lot of time out of our day when we have to sort through the glass because people are not respecting the rules,” noted Herr.
“People used to put their entire bag or box of glass in the old bins and then there wouldn’t be any room left for the next person’s stuff.”
All glass products can be dropped off into the new green dumpster, including window panes without the frames on them.
“We hope that this system will help make it easier for everyone and keep the glass cleaner for recycling purposes,” Herr remarked.
Residents also are reminded that Ontario implemented a deposit return program back in February to enhance the glass recycling program.
Instead of taking empty wine, beer, and spirit containers to the glass depot, Ontarians can “bag them back” to The Beer Store on Fifth Street East for a full refund of their deposit.
Bagging empties back will help recycle the 80 million containers a year that currently don’t get recycled.
It also will free up space in Blue Boxes, giving municipalities room to expand their recycling programs.
And through deposit return, more containers will be recycled—into new glass bottles, fiberglass, polar fleece, and other high-end uses.
The deposit rates are 10 cents for containers 630 mL or less and 20 cents for containers over 630 mL.
For more information, visit www.bagitback.ca or call 1-877-7RETURN (773-8876).