Nanaimo Recycling Exchange (NRE) faces closure if they can’t get local governments to provide financial support. Where will people go to drop off their yard waste? Will illegal dumping result?
NRE began in 1990 after a private firm that had obtained a curbside pickup contract in Nanaimo folded within months, leaving the City without recycling services. The original location for NRE was at 2214 McCullough Road in Nanaimo until it out grew its location.
The NRE does not own the property it occupies at 2477 Kenworth Road but they own the property next door and have plans for a new centre that would see its operations moved indoors. The project is budgeted at $1.7 million.
Back in January 2014, RDN directors requested that staff draft a report on ways they might respond to the NRE’s funding request.
There are many advantages to the concept of the recycling exchange. It is a one-stop place to go to recycle everything. You can take most household products such as styrofoam, glass jars, hazardous household waste, paints, fertilizers, batteries, light bulbs, yard waste drop off, old electronics for recycling and the second hand shop is a popular place to drop off or pick up items.
Why doesn’t the RDN and the City of Nanaimo run this valuable service as an extension of the city dump? A proactive approach needs to be taken regarding recycling and garden waste. In Nanaimo there is no pick up of branches or garden clippings; consequently, people often just dump this into the bush.
If you would like to show your support for saving the NRE you can sign their petition. On the petition it says 15,000 tons a year of recyclable or re-usable material would end up in a landfill and over 100 volunteers and workers would ultimately have no place to call home, if the NRE closed its doors.
