The Bluewater Recycling Association was founded in 1989 to provide waste diversion services to rural municipalities in southwestern Ontario. The Association is a rural based non-profit organization developing and maintaining facilities on behalf of, and in cooperation with the municipal sector. Its 75 employees handle more than 40,000 tonnes of material yearly from approximately 160,000 people in 70,000 households from 20 municipalities with its state of the art material recovery facility and fleet of 44 collection vehicles. The unique structure of the Association enables it to operate at arms length from its municipal owners providing a management environment similar to a private company focused on efficiency. Under the watchful eyes of the Board of Directors, made up of independent elected politicians, service remains an equally important component of our decision making process. It enables us to yield the benefits from the best of both worlds, private and public.

The Association has always been a leader in innovation. From its early implementation of plastic recycling in 1989 to its 800 pages of school curriculum, with the introduction of user pay in 1992, some of its members achieved an 80% waste reduction by 1994. This led to the development of its co-collection program in 1996 resulting in unmatched savings All of the Association's municipal depots were converted to the front end type of containers in 1999 to allow the recovery of materials such as cardboard from depots. The program's success was so great that the recovery doubled in a short time. The Association continues to keep abreast of external developments in its industry. Many technologies are now available to better handle what we dispose of in an environmentally friendlier way while lowering costs. Our automated material recovery facility and collection program are the latest innovations to benefit our customers. more... See more text