Recycling agency under auditor general's microscope

The office of Newfoundland and Labrador's auditor general is auditing a provincially appointed recycling agency, amid questions of how a massive unspent surplus has accumulated.

CBC News has learned that Auditor General John Noseworthy's next annual report will include a section on the MMSB, also known as the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board.

The MMSB has not been audited since 2002.

Noseworthy's report will be published early next year.

Environmentalists and municipal politicians have criticized the MMSB for sitting on an $11-million surplus, largely accumulated over the years from unclaimed refunds for recyclable beverage containers.

Kevin Aylward, a provincial environment minister in the former Liberal government, said Friday that the MMSB was not established to bank such a large amount.

"It wasn't meant to have a large surplus," said Aylward.

"It just happens that it does at this point. There was only meant to be a surplus of, say, $1 million or $2 million a year."

The MMSB's programs encourage residents to recycle as much as possible, even though few municipalities have recycling programs of their own.

St. John's city council came under fire this month after it decided to delay citywide implementation of a curbside program, after running a pilot project since last year in two neighbourhoods.

Coun. Keith Coombs has asked why the MMSB cannot release some of its surplus for actual recycling programs, rather than just promotional campaigns.

The issue was raised Thursday during a Radio Noon Crosstalk phone-in show, in which MMSB chair John Scott deferred the question.

"That's really the decision of the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, not MMSB's decision," Scott said.

Clyde Jackman, the acting minister of the environment, said the government will not be changing the MMSB's mandate to allow support for recycling programs, but will help set them up. Operating costs, he said, are the responsibility of municipal governments.