KAGAWONG—Billings township council supports a proposal of getting all Island municipalities and First Nations together on a new strategy for working together to solve the Island waste management concerns.

“I think it is a really good idea to get other municipalities together to solve the Island waste problem,” said Councillor Michael Hunt at a Billings Township council meeting last week. 

During the Billings council meeting September 3, Councillor Vince Grogan proposed a notice of motion to discuss the opportunity of the Island Wide Waste Management Resources Committee holding a luncheon meeting to be hosted by the township of Billings.

“First of all, we have been working as an Island-wide committee for the past year and a half,” said Councillor Grogan. “We have taken every run at bringing all the communities together to work on ideas and proposals that would benefit the environment and reduce waste, but we have got nowhere in terms of support from other communities in working together. So, the committee is going to take a different approach, focusing on looking at the costs savings and the benefits to the environment by having all of our communities work together.” 

“We are proposing to have a meeting with the municipal and First Nation CAOs, to show how we can all save money by working together,” said Councillor Grogan. “It seems people don’t care as much about the environment as they will if they hear there are tangible cost savings. We have seen some progress with Central Manitoulin, Gore Bay, and Billings getting Sic Sox textile recycling bins in their communities. But by working together we as an Island can negotiate with companies shipping waste off the Island, and savings can be found.”

“Our committee feels that every community on the Island could see a 10 percent savings in our waste costs every year, although I can see this at 20 percent,” said Councillor Grogan. 

“I agree with anything the committee is trying to do, in principle,” said Councillor Ian Anderson.

“The idea is to bring all the CAOs together for the committee to look at what is being done in each community in terms of waste management and what could be done, and to look at how much we could all save by working together,” continued Councillor Grogan. “We would also send a letter to all Reeves/Mayors and First Nation Chiefs. He would like to see the luncheon meeting held as soon as possible as municipal councils will be starting to talk about their 2025 budgets very soon.

Mr. Grogan told The Expositor, “we have the opportunity to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in trucking and recycling waste products off the Island. These are dollars that can save if we negotiate with the companies that transfer the waste as an Island.”

“We would like to see eco-centres for corrugated products and tin opened on the Island,” continued Councillor Grogan and this would not only reduce our carbon footprint but provide for job opportunities. We would be turning the waste into a value-added product instead of a direct cost to each of our municipalities and First Nations. That is only one of the ideas we have to discuss with the communities. We can take plastics, recyclables and other products out of our landfill sites as well as much more, if we all work together.”