The board of directors of the Thompson Recycling Centre says that although there are many issues and challenges facing them, the City of Thompson will continue to have recycling services.
Melissa Branconnier, co-chair of the recycling centre, says that although inadequate space at the recycling facility, outdated equipment and contamination issues have created problems, the centre is going to see some positive changes in the future.
Branconnier notes the recycling centre is working very closely with the City of Thompson, who has agreed to bring in a consultant this summer to help create a business and a five-year strategic plan for the centre.
"One is going to be an interim operating plan - how do we keep going from now to the point when the new system is going to be up and running, and a long term plan - how do we transition, and once we're up and running what do we need to do to meet the demands of the city?" she explains, adding that the centre will be changing from a multiple stream system to a comingled, single source stream one. She says the goal is to have this completed by next summer.
Branconnier says the City of Thompson is also looking at alternate sites that could be used for a new facility, with the current one running over capacity. She notes nothing has been confirmed yet but the possibility of designing a whole new site is an option. The board has also been in discussions with city council about scheduling specific drop off times at the centre.
"The city has been more than generous. They have supported us when they didn't have to. They can't give us everything but they've definitely gone above and beyond and they've told us that they accept that it has to be a combined effort, and they've committed resources to us," Branconnier says. "There has been that recognition that we are an integral part of the system, and you can't just give us enough to turn on the lights. We need the assistance, because we've gotten so far behind."
Although Orla Banbury-Angus, manager at the Thompson Recycling Centre, told the Thompson Citizen that if things keep going the way they are the centre might have to shut down, Branconnier says this isn't exactly the case.
"It won't shut down. The city even said there's no way that a place the size of Thompson should be without a recycling centre. Whether or not it continues to be the Thompson Recycling Centre as an individual organization or under the management of the city or under an outside contracted source, there will continue to be recycling services," she stresses.
Branconnier says that in a couple of weeks Smook Bros Limited will be coming in to scrape all the remaining items that have spilled outside of the centre away. She notes the centre also plans to implement more stringent cleaning practices.
According to Branconnier, once the recycling centre has been reorganized and the problematic issues are dealt with, the board would like to see it becoming a regional centre, accepting material from all over the North, and not just Thompson and surrounding area as well as Gillam and Leaf Rapids.
