A Canadian company diverting textiles from landfills is getting its trucks ready to head to Timmins.
In early September, Talize business development manager Julio Barrerra said they will be doing the first curbside textile collection in Timmins.
For the collection, residents can put out material-based items such as clothing, shoes, towels or sheets.
Because the goal is to keep textiles in circulation, Barrera said the items can be in any condition.
“There’s always an avenue for repurposing the textiles we pick up. If it’s not in a condition that’s reusable then we would put it in rags, so there’s always a way to divert it from the landfill and still repurpose it so it delays the inevitable that it will go to the landfill at some point,” Barrerra said.
The collection is part of a one-year pilot project Timmins council approved in May.
Talize is a Canadian-owned thrift store with 11 locations, nine of which are in Ontario and two in British Columbia.
“We went to Timmins and offered them a program where we will facilitate all the pickups. We have our own trucks, our drivers, so there’s no expense whatsoever to the city," he explained.
He said the company is providing the marketing material for the collections.
The municipality also receives 11 cents per kilogram on all the textiles collected.
Barrerra said the company has had a successful pilot program with Peel Region, and is working with them to expand their program to divert textiles from landfill. He said they are also in the approval processs of setting up a program in Barrie.
Currently Talize doesn't have a thrift store in northern Ontario.
The company has a goal of expanding up to 25 stores, however.
The decision on where to grow is based on a business case, according to Ron Gersh, CCS Group principal.
“It’s a volume based decision,” Gersh said. “If the volumes are there and the partnership with the municipality is there, once we understand what that volume is then our leadership...can then make decisions on if it would make sense to set up a Talize store in Timmins.”
There are already ways to donate textiles in Timmins.
There is St. Anthony's, Value Village, Diabetes Canada has donation bins, and there is also the new Friends of Pets store supporting the Timmins and District Humane Society in South Porcupine.
When the curbside collection hits the streets, Gersh said people will have more options of how to recycle textiles.
“The whole point of the project is to try to increase textile recycling, to increase diversion,” he said.
Gersh noted they are trying to create a culture of textile recycling.
“There’s huge costs of having textiles in your waste stream, especially separation costs...anything that diverts it is good for landfills, it’s good for economic opportunities in both Timmins and in Ontario in general. And this is not a mandatory program, if someone feels passionate towards a foundation or a different cause, other people’s bins aren’t eliminated, they’re all helping contribute to the same cause," he said.
While the first pickup is slated for September, the rest of the timing is being worked out.
Barrerro said Timmins is a unique location due to the winter.
As such, he said it's likely they will bypass the winter months and do pickups in the remaining seasons.
At the council meeting, donation bins around the city were also part of it.
Barrerro said they are still working on the details of that part of the program.
