MANITOULIN—Local municipalities were surprised that the Sic Sox Circular Ltd. Program has now been cancelled, without the company providing notice that the used recycling bins would be removed from their communities.
“Last night, the driver who usually empties the bin came with a trailer and picked it up. He had a full load of them and said the project is ending. The reason had something to do with the fact that the electrical requirements did not get approved for the new facility they were planning,” Karen Noble, secretary-treasurer of the Robinson Township Local Services Board (LSB), wrote in an email on Monday, July 21.
“I was told they were picking up all the recycling bins, and that the project was closing,” said Ms. Noble. She explained the one bin for the township, which was located on her property in Silver Water, “got used very week and was full every week. In fact, some weeks after the bins were full, we had to take some of the materials and put it into our garage until the delivery guy showed up and we would hand it over to him. These bins were very popular,” she said, noting residents from other neighbouring communities such as Meldrum Bay, Zhiibaahaasing and Sheshegwaning First Nations residents had also helped to fill the bins on a weekly basis as well.
Billings township councillor Vince Grogan said last week, “I received a call from a local resident who indicated that Sic Sox had picked up our bins. There was no previous notification provided to the municipalities. I understand they closed for a combination of things, the major one being unable to get approval for three phase power at their processing plant in Chapleau.”
Jerret Paquette, of Sic Sox Circular Ltd. said, “we made a statement on our social media page that we are closed for now. We are at a standstill with Hydro One having kept postponing our hydro upgrades for the plant facility over the past 18 months and we have been operating by taking funds out of our own pocket. We have also suffered a significant death in the family recently.”
“We decided to close for now, restructuring makes sense,” said Mr. Paquette. “We are saddened by all of this, and hope to get back in operation in the future. We need a $200,000 power upgrade at the facility to continue and we can’t keep up with the materials that have been coming in because we can’t get the plant operating (the way the company had proposed).” He pointed out Sic Sox had been receiving between 2,000-3,000 kilograms of materials per week.
“With everything going on we need a break. We don’t know what the future holds, but feel that restructuring makes sense,” said Mr. Paquette. Sic Sox had textile recycling bins in Kagawong, Gore Bay, Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation and Silver Water.
“We will be sending a formal apology and explanation to everyone that has supported us so far,” said Mr. Paquette.
“The concept was brilliant and was working,” said Mr. Grogan. “We (Billings) had two bins and they were incredibly successful. We are looking for a group like Canada Diabetes to do the same.”
As had been previously reported, Mr. Paquette and his mother Doris Mitchell launched Sic Sox Circular in the community of Brunswick House First Nation near Chapleau in the fall of 2023. The plan was to repurpose unwanted textiles in a new type of home insulation and recycle the rest of the materials in a recycling facility at Brunswick House. Clothing, bedding and pillows, industrial textiles, shows, handbags and even stuffed animals toys would be dropped in the bins and had been emptied once a week and transported to the recycling facility at Brunswick House. Items that still have lots of life in them were being resold through the Sic Sox Thrift Store in Chapleau and online.
