NORA to disband next month

The Northwest Ontario Recycle Association will be no more as of June 30, selling its assets to the City of Dryden, NORA chair Dennis Brown revealed Tuesday.
“At our board meeting on April 24, we decided the future just wasn’t there for NORA,” he remarked.
“So the City of Dryden is going to purchase our operation and take over,” he added.
Brad Johns, director of engineering and public works for the City of Dryden, sent out a letter to district municipalities on Friday, asking them to indicate their intent to receive recycling service from Dryden by June 1 at the latest.
“If your municipality is interested in pursuing our proposal, the city would appreciate a prompt response,” the letter read.
“The city would then proceed immediately to develop an agreement based on your municipality’s needs,” it added.
Dryden took over the recycling operation on an interim basis for six months in January as NORA tried to find a company to handle its pick-up and recycling duties over the long-term.
At that time, the city’s management became responsible for the operation of the recycling processing plant, and the collection and marketing of recyclables.
NORA has found it necessary to relinquish doing the recycling itself as its $600,000 debt continues to rise in the face of a slumping market for recyclables, a lack of government subsidies, and the cost of maintaining aging equipment.
Municipalities served by NORA will see their contracts expire at the end of June, with more than a dozen, including Fort Frances, already having served notice of their intent to drop out of NORA this summer.