Gone green: St. John's depots refuse white paper, cardboard

St. John's recycling depots have stopped accepting white office paper and cardboard, a decision an advocacy group says sets back environmental progress.

Ever Green Recycling, a nonprofit agencythat operates three depots in St. John's, said it simply cannot afford to collect and ship white paper and cardboard, though newsprint will continue to be collected.

"We're very frustrated that we have to make this change. It's not something that we want to do," said chief operating officer Mike Wadden.

"But the reality is, to take the material in, sort it, process it and ship it to market in the fashion we're doing now is very costly."

Curbside recycling in St. John's is not mandatory, although the city has undertaken pilot projects in two neighbourhoods.

Small businesses, government offices and other employers are required to recycle their paper, but households are not.

Katie Temple, the director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Environment Network, said Ever Green's decision is a step backward.

"People in St. John's are ready to recycle, and paper is actually 37 per cent of the waste stream right now," she said.

"So it will change things quite a bit."

Ever Green had a business partner in paper recycling, but the partner backed out last year. Since then, Wadden said, Ever Green tried in vain to work out a deal with the provincial government to retain the service.

He said the government, which has its own waste management strategy coming online in the coming years, did not want to spend cash on keeping the service running.

Environment Minister Charlene Johnson said curbside recycling will become mandatory next year, as part of the province's $200-million waste management program.

In the meantime, she said, residents of St. John's can drive to depots in Mount Pearl or Conception Bay South to drop off paper and cardboard. She acknowledged that some of it will just be sent to the dump.

"There will be a marginal impact on Robin Hood Bay," she said, referring to the landfill that serves the St. John's area, "in that it will be now receiving paper from the residents, but the small business owners still have to follow by the ban."