The Town of Nanton has been having a lot of problems with their recycling depot.

From people just tossing stuff over the fence, to dumping their garbage, to illegally bringing in tree branches and other yard waste, the Town has seen it all.

Mayor Rick Everett and Council have had enough, and are taking strict measures to control what goes into the depot, and when.

He says after spending $30,000 to mulch all the illegal yard waste they had to take action.

"Council's also looked at putting cameras in. Just like in other places we have people that just, doesn't matter if it's open or not they just dump their stuff, so we have cameras in place for security and we're going to charge people if they're just going to drop their stuff off."

Security cameras are now in place all around the recycling depot in Nanton. Mayor Rick Everett says it's just some of the expense the Town had to go to to curb illegal dumping. Photo - Russell Skeet.

Everett and Council voted at their last meeting to take the step of issuing identification cards to residents so only they can use the recycling centre.

"We haven't got the I.D. cards out yet. They will be coming out with your water bill etc, with your town address and you'll get a card that you will have. And our operator here will have the right to go and check the card. What we're trying to do is never get back to a situation where we have fire hazards or we've got to spend thousands of dollars to have somebody come in here and mulch stuff up here and then try to get rid of it. We're trying to manage this area in the right way."

Everett says residents of the M.D. of Willow Creek, or even contractors can use the site, but they'll have to come to the Town Office and apply for a card in person.

He says the cards M.D. residents would get would be similar to those for Nanton residents, in that they would only get one card and be able to use it when needed.

He says commercial operators using the Town's recycling facilities will be subject to strict rules on what and how much they can drop of at the facility.

They would also have to get a new I.D. card every time they want to recycle in Town.

Nanton residents are good recyclers according to Mayor Rick Everett. But some bad apples are spoiling it for the bunch by not following the rules. Photo - Russell Skeet.

Everett is also happy with the amount of use the recycling depot sees.

He says Nanton residents are really good about recycling and it's just a matter of using the space properly.

He also mentions the all the mulch is available to residents free of charge as is a dirt/sand mix the town uses for sanding in the winter which he says is good compost for spreading on lawns and gardens.

Bins for recycling electronics are popular ones at the Nanton recycling depot. Photo - Russell Skeet.