ISSUE: Waste Disposal

FAPO spends on average more than $3000 per year in waste disposal costs. This is a cost that we have to bear ourselves because we do not receive any public funding whatsoever other than what we manage to raise through the sale of recycled furniture, clothing and applicances.

The “garbage” we take to the Solid Waste Commission (SWC) consists of items that have been donated to FAPO but which are in such bad shape that we cannot give them away or sell them, even at a reduced price. For example, broken and dirty furniture, mattresses with urine stains and smell, moldy bedding, electrical appliances such as stoves, refrigerators, television sets etc. In many cases, these items are knowingly dropped off at our stores after hours because the “donors” have no way to get their junk to the SWC so they just “dump” it on FAPO. This happens more times than we can count. In that sense, FAPO is providing a service to the City of Fredericton and the province of New Brunswick by bringing garbage to the dump that would otherwise end up along the side of the road or in illegal dumps in rural areas.

Gallants Metal will take some of the larger items such as stoves, and refrigerators for which they pay X $ per ton, but the sheer volume of other donations (furniture, couches, chairs, plastics) that are beyond repair and have absolutely no value to FAPO or anyone else is staggering. FAPO becomes, in a very real sense, an easy way out for some people who have no way of getting to the dump themselves for whatever reason, lack of transportation, tippage fees, or just plain laziness. After hours, and even during working hours, these people just offload their garbage at FAPO. By the time we realize it is too late because they are gone and we are stuck with the problems and cost of disposal.

We are making a case to the Fredericton Solid Waste Commission to give us a reduction in tippage fees. Currently, the tippage fees are $75 a ton, having gone up from approx. $65 a ton in the fall due to increased costs. We would also like to explore the possibility of getting a grant from the Department of Environment – or anywhere else - to help us with our waste disposal costs.

What you see below is a small example of the kind of junk that is dropped off at our stores which we have no choice but to bring to the Solid Waste Commission ourselves. It's demoralizing and discouraging to know that we have to deal with this when we have so much more important work to do every single day.