Save the NRE

The Nanaimo Recycling Exchange(NRE) faces closure if local governments do not step in to provide financial support. The NRE does not own the property it currently occupies and will soon have to vacate.

We need the City of Nanaimo and the RDN to provide funds for construction of a new facility.

As a non-profit recycler, the NRE's primary mandate has been to support zero waste since it was founded in 1992. While many materials can be collected and recycled for a profit, others — like Styrofoam, plastic, hazardous household waste, some paints, herbicides and more — are expensive to recycle.

Why do we do this? Because the NRE is dedicated to providing service before profit. The NRE is home to many of the community’s volunteers and job skill training programs, helping individuals with barriers grow and learn to be a part of the team and proud of the jobs that they do.

With the NRE gone, the volunteers, workers, and all of the recycling that the NRE currently does will be gone. Volunteers and workers will have nowhere to go, and all of the recyclable goods will go to landfill. That means 15,000 tons a year of recyclable or re-usable material will end up in a landfill and over 100 volunteers and workers will have no place to call home.

We respectfully urge you to vote yes to help the NRE. Get behind this non-profit organization that has provided invaluable service to our community for many years.