Saint John wants tenants in all apartment buildings across the city to have access to recycling opportunities.
A proposed bylaw before council will require owners of larger buildings to register for on-site recycling as of May 31.
The city has been providing curbside recycling to all residential buildings with up to four units since Oct. 22.
“Members of council have repeatedly requested to staff that we provide the same opportunity to dwellers in large apartment buildings,” Tim O’Reilly, the city’s director of public works, told council on Tuesday night.
Then came Circular Materials, a non-profit company approved by Recycle NB to collect recyclable paper and packaging materials across the province.
The company took over curbside collection of paper, cardboard, hard plastics and metals from the city in 2024 and, as part of its stewardship plan, must offer services to larger apartment buildings.
However, in order to take part in the program, owners of those buildings must register with Circular Materials.
Few buildings registered so far
As of the first deadline of Jan. 31, only 54 apartment buildings across the Fundy region signed up, according to a city staff report.
In the Capital region, which includes Fredericton, owners of 461 apartment buildings registered by the deadline. City staff believe a City of Fredericton bylaw compelling building owners to register was the most significant factor.
That prompted Saint John city staff to bring forward its own bylaw in hopes of seeing similar results in the region.
“A lot of residents have been waiting for this, so it’s great to see that they’ll be able to recycle,” Coun. Paula Radwan said during Tuesday’s meeting.
“A lot of people did end up missing the blue bins because they wanted to recycle, so this is going to give you the opportunity to do it again.”
Radwan is referring to the community blue bins that were removed once curbside recycling was rolled out. Since then, residents of larger apartment buildings have had to take their recyclables directly to the landfill.
Circular Materials will cover the cost of recycling collection and the on-site storage containers. Building owners will need to supply proper space to store and empty the containers.
The proposed bylaw will come back to council for final reading in early May. Apartment building owners who register by May 31 will start receiving services as of Nov. 1.
