By Sam Borsato - @BorsatoSam on Twitter - Lethbridge News Now photo credit

Curbside Recycling Defeated by Council

Jan 25, 2016 | 5:50 PM

LETHBRIDGE – Curbside recycling was defeated by Lethbridge City Council with a vote of 5-4.

Councillor Mauro, Iwaskiw, Hyggen, Miyashiro and Coffman all voted against. They cited reasons like negatively impacting private businesses, or not having the option to opt-out.

Blaine Hyggen said that his main concern stemmed from losing local businesses. “When I ran for office here, one of my platforms was to support local businesses, being a business owner. I know it might just be a few businesses that would be out of work. But if that’s your family, you’re not going to be happy. I love the idea of recycling, I like to recycle. We can still do it now.”

Bridget Mearns, who brought the resolution forward, was clearly upset by the decision. She read e-mails of support from residents as part of her closing statement, and said she’s received hundreds more.

“Eighty-percent say they want it. I’m disappointed for the citizens of Lethbridge… We’ve just told a majority of the citizens of our city that we’re not going to support them to make it easier,” Mearns added.

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“We’ve seen it go back to 2008. When people talk about recycling in Lethbridge, they say it’s inconvenient. We don’t do it because we don’t want to drive, or we don’t want to sort, or we don’t have the time.”

The city will continue to look at how industrial, commercial and institutional sectors can continue to divert more waste away from the landfill.