The Town of Okotoks has been approved to be part of a detailed business case that looks into the development of a regional Material Recycling Facility (MRF) for the MD of Foothills.

The facility will allow the Town to reach its 80 percent diversion by 2020 and create more sustainability.

Municipal Manager Rick Quail says it will help as Calgary continues to expand.

"The Cascade facility in Calgary was built with materials being moved from Calgary being high priority," Quail says.

The study will take a look at the continuous growth of the region, along with the increase of collection costs, into account.

Quail says the closest suitable recycling facility is a fair distance away and can get costly.

The study will look at what the cost difference would be with the MRF.

"Looking at the present cost of recycling as a private contractor that is picking up through the blue bin program with a centrally located MRF," Quail says.

Quail says the Town has asked the member municipalities to work collectively through the Foothills Regional Services Commission to look into the MRF at the regional landfill site.

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