Unusual partnership brings recycling to St. John's. (St. John's, Newfoundland)

Question: What do you get when you cross an entrepreneur in a VW van, 25 mentally ill patients in a work training programme, and a recycling plant?

Answer: St. John's recycling programme! And far from being a joke, it's a successful community-based approach to improving waste management.

Largely because of financial constraints, Newfoundland's capital city does not have blue box curbside collection for recyclable goods and the municipal government has no plans to become involved in recycling. Instead, three community and private-sector groups are working together to encourage recycling in the city.

Last December, St. John's resident Janine Piller set up Atlantic Blue Recycling. For a small fee, Piller picks up non-sorted recyclables from households and small businesses. She delivers the material to Ever Green Recycling, a recyclables sorting operation staffed by clients of a rehabilitation centre serving the mentally ill. Finally, Nova Recycling takes the separated materials to its plant for processing and transports the goods to markets.

The Ever Green sorters are therapy programme participants who work three-day rotations. John Dinn, job opportunities officer for the Waterford Hospital Foundation, which runs the centre, says the programme "helps clients lead productive and socially satisfying lives. When clients know they are productive, it enhances their self esteem and self confidence."

Two therapists working at the centre give support and feedback to the clients during the day and at regularly scheduled meetings. Dinn says the Ever Green programme is not only doing something for the environment, but also providing employment for people who have a tough time finding work.

Until this year, St. John's residents had to take their recyclables to one of Ever Green's two depots in the city. Now, people and businesses unable to bring their ...