Made-in-Manitoba: A recycling solution for northern communities
The Northern Backhaul Program, run by the Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA) through Recycle Everywhere, enables recycling in remote northern communities. The initiative uses delivery trucks to transport recyclables on their return journeys, utilizing otherwise empty space
Northern Manitoba is one of Canada’s most breathtaking landscapes, vast, wild, and alive with striking contrasts. Here, working towns forged by mining, forestry, and hydro, Indigenous communities, and close-knit northern enclaves stand as beacons across the vast wilderness. But this rugged beauty comes with unique challenges. Many communities are accessible only for a few months each year by ice-covered winter roads that vanish with the spring thaw. Others can be reached only by small aircraft, boat, rail or a single gravel road stretching across tundra and forest.
Amid this landscape of isolation and resilience, residents lead with ingenuity. They are not only stewards of the thousands of crystal-clear lakes, pristine rivers, and endless boreal forest that surround them, but also innovators in sustainability. Through the Northern Backhaul Program -- a made-in-Manitoba solution -- beverage containers are collected from these remote communities and transported south for recycling, ensuring that the North’s natural beauty remains as pure as its skies.
Image courtesy of CBCRA
That’s where the Northern Backhaul Program comes in. Operated by the Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA) through Recycle Everywhere, the program makes recycling possible in communities that would otherwise lack access. The idea is straightforward: trucks that deliver goods to the north also bring recyclables back on their return trips, using space that would otherwise go empty.
Nelson House - Image courtesy of CBCRA
"Storage space for recycling materials is often limited, and transportation is complicated," says Jaclyn Diduck, Senior Manager, Programs at CBCRA. "The Northern Backhaul is a practical, made-in-Manitoba solution that ensures recycling is possible anywhere in the province."
The program starts at schools and community collection points, where beverage containers are gathered in CBCRA-funded bins and sheds. Students, teachers and staff take an active role in managing the collections, which helps build wider community participation. Once enough material is gathered, it’s stored in backhaul sheds built by local tradespeople until a truck is ready to make the trip south.
Norway House - Image courtesy of CBCRA
Arctic Beverages plays a key role by transporting recyclables at no additional cost, while the Thompson Recycling Centre weighs, sorts, and sends the material on to recycling facilities. Together with CBCRA’s infrastructure and support, each partner ensures the system runs smoothly.
"Every new shed represents another community with access to recycling," says Diduck. "It’s a milestone that reflects collaboration and long-term commitment."
Norway House - Image courtesy of CBCRA
Some schools have been involved since the beginning, including D.R. Hamilton School in Cross Lake and Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre in Norway House. Their continued participation shows how local leadership sustains the program over time. In total, the Northern Backhaul has diverted more than 10,500 kilograms of beverage containers, over 2,400 bags, from landfills. For northern communities, that means less waste and more opportunity to take part in a province-wide effort to recycle.
Thompson Recycling Centre - Image courtesy of CBCRA
The Northern Backhaul is also a strong example of what can be achieved when many different groups work together toward a common goal. A for-profit company like Arctic Beverages provides transportation, northern schools and students lead collection and sorting, local craftspeople build and maintain the sheds, the Thompson Recycling Centre processes materials, and CBCRA helps coordinate and provide support. Each plays a unique role, but the real drivers of the program are the students and schools whose commitment inspires the wider community to take part.
"What makes this program work is the enthusiasm of students, teachers, and local partners,: says Diduck. "Our role is to provide the tools and support, while communities drive the success."
Now more than ten years in, the Northern Backhaul is still growing. CBCRA is working to bring more schools and transportation providers into the program so that even more recyclables can make their way south for processing. The success so far shows that, with the right partnerships, recycling can be possible anywhere, no matter the distance or difficulty. To learn more about Recycle Everywhere’s work and programs like the Northern Backhaul, visit recycleeverywhere.ca.
