Portage & District Recycling is now taking your face masks for recycling. 

General manager Christine Major says the idea came from the Red River College Portage campus, Portage Chamber, City of Portage, the school division and PRED.

"We all came together and we started a committee, and that's how the recycling of medical masks came about," says Major. "The City of Portage is partnering up for some costs involved with the TerraCycle box. Also, the Portage Chamber is going to be sending out sponsor shipment flyers to help pay for these boxes. They are just over $250 for the box and the shipping. The medical masks are to be recycled in an environmentally safe manner."

Major explains Portage and District Recycling partnered up with the City of Portage la Prairie to start collecting medical masks. She notes you can drop them off at their location at 700 Phillips Street, during the hours between 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Major adds the box is located inside their office.

"This will not stop," continues Major. "We will continue to collect these until we are able to not wear masks anymore. TerraCycle makes a disposable masks zero-waste box. We partnered up with them years ago for razor collection. We have a drop-off in our plant for disposable razors."

She notes that we need to be environmentally cautious.

"These masks are recyclable and I think we should each do our part in order to keep these again out of the landfill and off our streets," adds Major. "They're manually separated into fibres and plastics, and then the fibres from the masks, such as the paper or the wood-based products, are recycled and composted. And then the plastics undergo some pelletization to be moulded into new recycled plastic products."

Major stresses that these masks are not to be placed in your curbside or in their depot bins, and they are only accepting medical masks, and not the cloth versions.

"I feel the residents of the city and the RM have done a great job already to not do this," says Major. "So, if you could please keep them in your home until you have a small plastic bag, then you're welcome to bring them into our plant."