John Challinor is hopeful the provincial government sees how effective public spaces recycling programs are and includes them in its new Waste Diversion Act.
“They’re an effective way to deal with litter,” said Challinor, the director of corporate affairs with Nestlé Waters Canada.
The company recently donated $16,000 worth of public spaces recycling infrastructure for use at the Optimist Recreation Centre, Puslinch Township’s new multi-use recreational facility.
The donation of public spaces recycling infrastructure follows the company’s donation in July 2009 of $50,000 towards the construction of the recreation facility.
“We are very pleased with Nestlé Waters Canada’s donation of public spaces recycling infrastructure to the multi-use recreation centre,” said Puslinch Mayor Dennis Lever.
John Zupo, president of Nestlé Waters, added, “We are a very proud member of the Puslinch business community.
“This facility will be a focal point of the community’s leisure strategy. The establishment of public spaces recycling there will help to put the community at the forefront of environmental sustainability in Wellington County and the province of Ontario, while keeping it clean for all to enjoy.”
Challinor explained that earlier this year, Nestle Waters also donated the recycling and waste bin technologies – featuring pictograms on each container to help consumers – to the new Royal Distributing Athletic Performance Centre in Guelph-Eramosa, and in the past has made similar donations to McMillan Park in Erin and at the Puslinch Community Centre.
“It has been very effective,” he said of the company’s local efforts to divert waste from landfills and into the proper recycling containers.
The goal, Challinor said, is to eventually get the province on board and institute similar recycling infrastructure in facilities across the province.
Nestle Waters, which has been involved with programs in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, has seen diversion rates climb as high as 95% in facilities that previously had very little recycling, he explained.
“If you make it easy, people will put [litter] in the proper place,” he said.
Public spaces recycling involves the collection of recyclable materials, including plastic beverage containers, in public spaces such as Sports parks, arenas, cultural facilities, streetscapes, transit stops, schools, convenience stores/gas stations and bars and restaurants.
