About South Shore Waste Solutions
We are excited to share that the Lunenburg Regional Community Recycling Centre, operating on behalf of the Municipal Joint Services Board, Lunenburg Region, has a new name – South Shore Waste Solutions. This change comes as part of our effort to create an identity that better reflects the full range of services we provide today.
While recycling remains an important part of what we do, our work extends far beyond that, and our new name highlights our commitment to offering modern, sustainable, waste solutions for our region. This helps protect our beautiful Nova Scotia and turns yesterday’s trash into new resources for our communities.
At South Shore Waste Solutions we are committed to keeping our community clean and sustainable. We manage waste in a responsible and efficient way. Our goals are to:
- Divert as much waste as possible from the landfill,
- Run operations smoothly and efficiently,
- Provide friendly and helpful service to everyone, and
- Teach and encourage people to reduce waste, reuse items, and recycle the right way.
In addition to providing a one-stop solution for all your waste needs, staff provide environmental education programs, resource materials and face-to-face community outreach programs—all to encourage our customers to reduce their waste even further, save money, and protect the environment.
Our History
South Shore Waste Solutions proudly serves over 35,000 residents and commercial clients in the region. South Shore Waste Solutions has a long history as a leader in best-practice waste management.
The facility first opened in 1977, when waste was incinerated onsite. As environmental science advanced and population grew, recycling became top-of-mind. In 1991, the District of Lunenburg, Town of Bridgewater, Town of Lunenburg and Town of Mahone Bay, came together and established a Waste Management Committee. At that time, the site housed a silo incinerator for bagged waste, a pit burner for waste wood and dry landfill for non-combustibles and ash from the incinerators.
One thousand households representing each of the four municipal areas took part in a pilot project in 1992, with each household receiving a green cart and kitchen container for collection of organics, a supply of blue bags and a recycling brochure. The result: nearly one-third of household waste was diverted from landfill. The seed had been planted!
The early 1990’s was a time of significant expansion at the site. On-site processing of organics into compost, as well as recyclables sorting, started at that time. By 1995, waste was no longer incinerated and recyclables were sorted onsite.
Landfilling on site continued until 2005 when the last landfill cell was closed and capped. Capped landfill cell monitoring continues today, as required by provincial permits. On-site recyclables sorting continued until 2012 when processing was outsourced.
In 2013 the Municipal Joint Services Board, Lunenburg Region was created through a cost sharing arrangement to better serve residents of the District of Lunenburg, the Town of Bridgewater and the Town of Mahone Bay. Each partnering unit appointed three members to the governing Board of Directors. South Shore Waste Solutions was the first municipal shared service created under this arrangement.
