Private recyclers in Calgary going out of business

Private recyclers in Calgary are going out of business now that the city is passing out its own blue bins.

About300,000 Calgary homeowners will be able to put out their paper, glass, cans, and plastic for pickup with their trashby July. For that service, $8 will be added to their monthly utility bill.

Calgary had eight small companies offering curbside recycling pickup in 2007, usually charging customers around $10 to $20 a month.

Two shut down recently and those still in the business say it's only a matter of time before the restclose up shop.

Still picking up blue bins in the southeast for now isRecycle Blue. For the past 10 years, owner Steve Tisshaw has reinvested much of his profits into trucks and bins. But in just months he has seen his customer base shrink from 5,000 to 2,500.

Tisshaw said he will soonbe left with bins and trucks worth less than the recyclables they carried.

"It is going to become no customers, no revenue, no employees. Probably my wife will have to get a job if she can find one," he said.

One company finds niche market

Ald. Ric McIver said he tried to broker a contract with private recyclers, but city officials instead posted a tender worth millions of dollars that none of the small existing companies could afford. The city's waste department won, so the same people who haul away garbage will now also take away recyclables.

"This is not a proud moment for council," McIver said.

One recycler who is relatively new to the business has found a niche that could survive the changeover.

Jarrod MacDonald has only been in the recycling business for a year, but he is investing in newer bins. MacDonald's company, called Calgary City Recycling, services high-rises, which won't be part of the city's new curbside program.

Business is growing, he said, in part because of growing awareness of recycling created by the city's new pickup program.

"It's changing the way the city behaves," he said. "Right now, I am growing at about 15 buildings a month."