Brandon residents will soon have to head to the city’s east end to drop off extra recycling.
The City of Brandon says it will permanently close all community recycling depots to tackle challenges that include illegal dumping.
“This decision to consolidate diversion services at the landfill comes after years of increasing contamination and illegal dumping at depot sites, which have resulted in unsightly messes, hazardous materials, and a significant rise in complaints from residents and businesses,” the city said in a news release.
Brandon resident Kurtis Sharanowski says he’s seen plenty of illegal dumping at local depots, especially at this time of year, when compost bins fill up with yard waste and garbage.
But removing the depots doesn’t seem like the right fit for the community, he said.
“I understand that people are illegally dumping, and that isn’t a good thing, but at the same time just removing them is not the answer,” Sharanowski said. “I would like to see there be garbage receptacles here [at the recyling depots] where people could put garbage, and then put recycling into the correct bins.”
Denise Legare, who uses the Keystone Centre depot, said the change will triple the distance of her recycling trips. She worries the changes will discourage some residents from recycling.
“[For] seniors, people without vehicles, it will be much harder, because making it down to the land[fill] site is difficult.”
Depots being phased out
Starting Oct. 15, residents can take any excess recyclable materials to the Eastview Landfill Site, at 765 33rd St. E.
Bins will be available outside the gate 24/7 and inside the landfill during open hours, with no fees for use.
The Keystone Centre recycling depot will close Oct. 14, followed by the depots at Brandon’s Community Sportsplex and at 34th St. and Victoria Avenue closing on Nov. 14.
Brandon residents can start taking recycling to the Eastview Landfill on Oct. 15. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)
Seasonal organic depot bins will also be removed for the season by Nov. 14. The future of the city’s organic depot program will be reviewed during the 2026 municipal budget discussions.
The city said it remains committed to supporting recycling and diversion services, with plans to propose an enhanced staffed depot at Eastview Landfill in 2026 to maximize recycling and minimize contamination.
More details on the program are expected in spring 2026.
Contamination remains a problem
Madelyn Robinson, chair of the climate action non-profit Sustainable Brandon, says she has seen first-hand how bad some depot sites have become, with toilets, sinks and other garbage often dumped around the recycling bins.Â
Robinson, who works to help educate people about recycling and composting to help materials out of landfills, says contamination remains a major frustration even after decades of public education, and it doesn’t take much garbage to contaminate a whole load of recycling.
“You’ve got a big, huge bin, and maybe 95 per cent of it is clean and is recyclable,” but if the remainder is garbage, it has to be thrown out, said Robinson — which can discourage others from recycling.
That contamination also costs the city money, she said. Brandon receives provincial funding if it can keep recyclable materials out of the landfill — but if a load is too contaminated, it’s rejected and ends up with the garbage.
Robinson believes having staff at depot sites could have helped educate residents and reduced contamination, but that type of money isn’t in the city’s budget, since the sites are accessible 24/7.
“Maybe we just aren’t mature enough as a society to handle this on our own,” Robinson said. “We need somebody standing at the bins to say, ‘No, no, that doesn’t go in. Yes, yes, that can go in.'”