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Bonnyville rounding up toxic household waste

Bonnyville-area residents will be able to get rid of toxic household materials during a collection initiative on Sept. 25.
webToxic Waste Roundup
Bonnyville's Toxic Waste Roundup program is back for another year. Residents who have products hanging around their homes like old tires or used paint can drop them off at the Bonnyville Fire Hall on Sept. 25.

BONNYVILLE - The Town of Bonnyville has doubled its funding to a program meant to gather toxic household materials from residents, after Alberta eliminated a subsidy for the cost of disposing waste collected under the program.

That means Bonnyville-area residents who have paint cans, old electronics, used oil and old tires kicking around their homes will have a chance to ditch those items and more at the Bonnyville Fire Hall on Sept. 25.

The Toxic Waste Roundup, which is paid for jointly by the town and M.D. of Bonnyville, costs about $13,000 to run, based on disposal volumes from 2019. The town had already earmarked $3,000 for the program, but town council agreed on Aug. 4 to a request from the M.D. to provide an additional $3,500.

Town of Bonnyville Coun. Lorna Storoschuk, who made the motion to approve the additional funding, said some Alberta municipalities have cancelled their toxic roundups altogether this year, sending that waste to the landfill instead. However, Bonnyville had already committed to a contractor and its roundup was already scheduled.

“I feel this year we should go ahead with it, and see what happens in years to come,” she said.

The event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 25 and usually sees anywhere from 120 to 160 residents dropping off waste over the course of the day, said Brad Ollen, the manager of waste services for the M.D. of Bonnyville. 

“We do get a lot of material and it's quite a busy four-hour stint,” said Ollen, who is in his seventh year of running the program. 

Alberta Recycling and DBS Environmental, a waste management contractor that operates out of Lethbridge, process the items collected through the program.

Town of Bonnyville Coun. Rene Van Brabant said he has worked a number of toxic roundups in the past and has seen large volumes of waste collected.

“It's unbelievable, the amount of stuff – you would figure next year would be less, (but) it isn't. It's just more and more every year,” he said.

Although the program was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ollen told Lakeland Today he isn't expecting a big uptick in residents dropping off waste, since landfills accept most of the materials as well throughout the year. However, the roundup program offers residents a convenient way to get rid of unwanted products.

“(They) come to town on a Saturday afternoon and bring their materials in – they don't really have to handle it. They just have to load it up, and we have a good crew of people working there,” Ollen explained. “We grab it out of the box of your truck, back of your car, whatever, and then you just drive away.”

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