Orillia residents getting a pat on the back for their efforts at recycling.
Superintended of Waste Management Greg Preston says the city currently has a diversion rate of around 60 per cent, but they are hoping to increase that to 70 per cent over the next few years.
He says the city is on the higher end of recycling in the Province and have received several awards from the Recycling council of Ontario for their efforts.
Preston says the bag tag system also has helped a lot in discouraging people from putting recycleable material into the waste stream.
Although the Orillia landfill has about 50 to 60 years of life left, he says its important to encourage people to divert as much waste as possible from the land fill site.
Preston says however as more people move to the area, there will be additional pressure placed on the landfill, so its essential that there are good solid waste diversion programs in place.
He says some other good news for the city is the price being paid for recycleable material has been going up over the past few years and that helps on the revenue side of things.
The city now is working on a 5 year waste minimization plan and is looking for public imput.
