After 29 years in business in southeastern Manitoba, enVision’s Eastman Recycling Services (ERS) will be closing its doors.
However, they will not close immediately. Instead ERS will wind down their operations throughout 2022, allowing them time to finish out contracted terms and, hopefully, find new jobs for the enVision clients who are employed there.
EnVision Community Living created ERS in 1992 for two reasons: they believed in the concept of bringing curbside recycling pickup to southeastern Manitoba, and they wanted to create jobs for their clients.
“All along, enVision’s core purpose at ERS was to create meaningful work for people who live with an intellectual disability,” says Jeannette DeLong, enVision’s executive director. “And we have done that for many years.”
DeLong says that the company started modestly. After the idea of ERS was conceived, enVision employees went door to door in Steinbach informing residents about the potential for curbside recycling services. This was a remarkably successful tactic and they signed up 575 households who each agreed to pay $48 annually for the service.
Today, ERS has four municipal and town contracts and picks up recycling at 10,781 households.
Over the course of its lifetime, ERS has provided employment for more than 60 individuals living with an intellectual disability. At this time, nine of those employees remain.
Since the business’s inception, however, recycling has changed dramatically. There is more automation now and much less need for human intervention in the process.
It was this new model of recycling that spurred enVision’s decision to cease operations.
“In recent years we have seen the recycling industry move into a highly automated model while we have continued to operate with hands-on labour,” says DeLong. “Keeping up with the industry, along with increasing operational and capital costs, and managing increased liabilities, is pulling us away from our original purpose.”
DeLong stresses that enVision’s board of directors and leadership have not made this decision lightly. She says they remain firmly committed to providing purposeful employment opportunities for their clients.
“While it’s been a tough decision, we know it’s the right decision for our organization,” DeLong adds. “We are very proud of what we have achieved at ERS over the years, together with staff and the people we support. We look forward to conversations about how recycling will continue in the region, and the possibility of the sale of ERS.”
