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Recycle more garbage

If only there was the political will, many jobs could be created at the dumpsites in our municipalities, just sorting garbage.

If only there was the political will, many jobs could be created at the dumpsites in our municipalities, just sorting garbage.

I have been going to the Abbotsford “transfer station” regularly as we are currently remodeling. I see a giant-loader picking up things like old furniture, discarded building materials, and things like potted plants, sports equipment, broken umbrellas, kids’ toys, etc.

I suggest we are trucking a lot of things up to Cache Creek that are fully recyclable. What is needed is more sorting.

Of course there are those disposable diapers and unwashed food containers which seem to be a huge problem but I know some entrepreneurial person has developed a digester that could break down the biological stuff and spit out some clean cans and bottles. Certainly there are giant shredders that would breakdown larger items like furniture so the springs and stuffing could be sorted out.

San Francisco claims to have nearly 90 per cent of their garbage recycled.  So we see this is obviously doable and would be a very good target.

What needs to be done is:

Build some conveyer belts and hire some people, give them a mask and some gloves, start making piles of sorted stuff instead of loading it up on a barge/truck all mixed together.

Identify sources who will responsibly re-use the materials.

As always, I have over simplified things. I do this because I am unsure of the brainpower of someone like Lois Jackson and just want her to absorb the general idea of sorting through that Delta-mountain of hers.  There would be some organization and management certainly and things like shredders, digesters, warehouses and employees will cost money to get started, but so does everything else.

In the long run it may just be a smarter investment than doing nothing or continuing talks with the proponents who want to build incinerators.

Anne Graham