The recycling situation looks better in Chatham than it does in other parts of the county, with a local refuse provider saying recycling will return in a few weeks after North Country Disposal pulled out of Alger County at the end of July.

Western Alger County has long used Paul Whitmarsh’s building in Chatham as a de facto transfer station. Whitmarsh would open his dumpsters for people to drop off trash and recycling two days a week with many people finding the option more reasonable than curbside pickup, long-term dumpster rentals or hauling personally to the Wood Island Landfill. North Country Disposal served as the recycling provider at Whitmarsh’s building, so all the people who recycled through Chatham are now looking for new options as recycling collection is temporarily suspended.

Whitmarsh said that he has been in contact with GFL, but due to container shortages, it will be easier for him to build a new container and then haul the recycling to Wetmore himself or to the Recycle 906 facility in Sands Township.

“It’s a little bit of a pain in the neck as I will be hauling it instead of someone else, but once I get the bins made up, it won’t be too much of a problem,” Whitmarsh said.

While the call for recycling is not as strong as the need for garbage hauling, Whitmarsh said that the demand is high enough to keep the program going. One hopeful recycler was turned away while interviewing Whitmarsh for this story.

“(Recycling) is an important part of the whole equation,” Whitmarsh said. “There’s enough customers out here using it, so I’ll get it set up and keep it going.”

Whitmarsh said that he expects to have the bins constructed in the next couple of weeks and will announce when recycling will resume on local social media pages.