It's official; the town of Altona is pulling out of the Pembina Valley Recycling Network.

The town has been part of the regional municipal recycling program for several decades and was a founding member. The program provides recycling services for member municipalities in which materials are collected and shipped off to Winkler to be marketed and sold.
    
Altona town councillor Al Friesen says the decision to leave PVRN was made last year when Blue Sky Opportunities forged ahead with plans to expand its recycling operations.

"Blue Sky has significantly changed the way it wants to do recycling in our community. So, they will continue to collect all the recyclables, but will now take care of marketing those materials on their

Blue Sky's new recycling truck own. The town of Altona will then receive the revenue from the sale of cardboard, aluminium cans and all that."

Revenue generated from recycled material in Altona is estimated at about $30,000 annually, according to Friesen.

Altona's new recycling program will have an up front cost of about $70,000, which the town will spend to purchase recycling bins for every household in the community. While residents will be provided with a bin free of charge, the money to pay for the bins comes directly out of a solid waste reserve fund that the town maintains as part of its operations.

Also, once Blue Sky Opportunities has its new recycling operation up and running, curbside pickup services will move to a weekly schedule from the current bi-weekly service.

"Blue Sky has purchased a truck that they are retrofitting, which will allow for a more efficient way of picking up recyclables. So, there are all kinds of reasons why we feel that now is the time to move ahead ... which is why we are withdrawing from Pembina Valley Recycling Network."

Friesen wanted to be clear that Altona's withdrawal from PVRN is not due to a dissatisfaction with the services that were being provided, but rather a new opportunity for the community to partner with a well known organization like Blue Sky. He also suggested the partnership will present new opportunities for residents of Altona when it comes to recycling.

"I think it's an opportunity in our community to increase recycling, since we'll have weekly pickup service, the recyclables can be be mixed together and there will be no need for blue bags as everyone will get their own bin to place materials into. So, over the course of spring and summer we will significantly change how we handle recycling in our community."