Recycling plan sorted
County will pay $460,000 to continue collecting business recyclables
There is good news about recycling for owners of small businesses in Trent Hills and throughout Northumberland County. The county will continue to pick up your recycling after January 1 when the new residential system is in place.
You may recall that I wrote in September about the province’s plan to shift responsibility for recycling from municipalities to companies that produce packaging and the fact they had left a gap in the new system. There was no provision for small businesses that have been served by the municipal system to continue to get coverage. Large businesses have always had to hire private operators, but small stores and offices have relied on the same trucks that pick up at our homes.
The county has now decided it will spend $460,000 a year to continue providing the same service to these businesses.
Communications Director Kate Campbell says the county will continue to contract with Miller Waste Systems for garbage pickup and it will manage collection of recyclables for small industrial, commercial and institutional locations.
Campbell said the county has collected in the past from smaller sites that produce quantities of recyclable material similar to a residential property. So, it will continue that service.
“There will be minimal (if any) disruption to properties that currently receive this collection service from the county, come January 1, 2026,” Campbell said.
Some properties may see a change in their pickup date, she said. Once the county has finalized routes with the collection contractor it will send letters to any business affected.
Tab collection contest continues
The friendly competition between Trent Hills and Lakefield to see which community can collect the most aluminum pop tabs to raise money for Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides is heading into its final weeks.
The last tally on Sept. 30 was 314 pounds of tabs collected by Trent Hills just ahead of the 300 pounds gathered by Lakefield, says Father Bill Moloney of St. Mary of the Visitation Parish in Campbellford.
The contest will wrap up on Jan. 13. Moloney conceived a year-long competition because he wanted to do something big in memory of Barry Lecour of Peterborough. Lecour, who died in 2024, had been an active tab collector and Lions supporter for years. Moloney decided to suggest a competition with Butch Foster, who had collected tabs at St. Paul’s Parish in Lakefield.
Moloney persuaded Mayor Bob Crate to get involved and the mayor challenged Selwyn Township Mayor Sherry Senis. The winning mayor will provide a hometown hockey jersey that the other mayor will wear at all municipal meetings for a week. The Trent Hills Thunder have been big supporters of the tab collection contest and they will take on the Lakefield Chiefs tonight in Lakefield.
Thunder fans or YMCA members can drop off tabs at the Sunny Life Recreation & Wellness Centre.
The Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides provide guide dogs to help people with a variety of conditions from vision or hearing impairment, to autism, or diabetes.
You can contact Moloney at 705.768.0844 for more details, or to pass on any pull tabs you have.
You can read all Trent Hills News stories anytime on the website.
I am enjoying your old school coverage. The folks there are lucky to have your years of experience. Cheers, Badger