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Recycling in the City

an Earth Day initiative
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(L-R) SARCAN Recycling Technicians Adam Scott, Dennis Whitrow and Ivan Robb collected electronic devices for recycling from resident Jackie Hudson on April 20 at SARCAN's west-side door. Hudson simply rang the doorbell during regular operating hours and waited for the rec-techs to assist her.


With the world celebrating the 41st annual Earth Day on April 22, the City and SARCAN are wondering why there is still so much misuse of Weyburn's recycling programs.


The recent dumping of a large amount of garbage and other items at the City recycling bins on East Avenue has encouraged the two entities to come up with a solution.


One of the biggest challenges is educating the public, according to Councillor Nancy Styles, chair of the Environment and Clean-up committees. She said that despite posting several signs, and the threat of being fined up to $2,000, people are still leaving garbage such as electronics and mattresses at the City recycling bins, costing the City time and money.


"When people do this, it's money out of the City's pocket because we have to get our workers to clean it up," said Styles.


She said that unacceptable items collected at the site go directly to the landfill, they are not sorted and recycled - that is up to residents. Styles said City workers have other meaningful work that needs to be done.


"They have other things to do, such as the massive flood efforts that have been underway."


The contamination of recycling bins is the key reason that the City cannot sell their paper, cardboard and glass. The City pays to have the paper and cardboard sent to Crown Shred & Recycling in Regina. The City used to get money from their glass recycling but too much contamination of the bins forced them to come up with other solutions, according to Styles.


"Now, the glass is crushed and used as kind of like a stick 'em layer at the landfill," Styles explained.


Paper and cardboard must be sorted to ensure it is clean and separated before it will be purchased by Crown Shred, which is exactly what workers at SARCAN and the Wor-kin Shop do. They operate their own paper and cardboard recycling program, which accepts the recyclables from Weyburn and area businesses and organizations.


The groups also accept tin cans for recycling in a bin at the west side of their parking lot. The tin is taken to Mryglod Steel and Metals Inc. about twice a month, according to Executive Director of the Weyburn Wor-kin Shop Andria Brady.


"We have to take it more often in the summer because of the smell," said Brady.


Brady said they encourage residents to rinse out cans before bringing them to the bins and, ideally, paper labels should be removed.


"The bin is for tin only," stated Brady.


As for electronics, Brady said SARCAN now accepts a lengthy list of items, from turntables to modern day "smart" phones. Electronics are only accepted during regular business hours, which have recently been extended to accommodate more people's schedules, said Brady. The depot is now open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday to Friday and is only closed one noon hour a week, on Wednesdays.


When residents bring electronic items to SARCAN for recycling, they must bring the items to the depot's west-side door and ring the doorbell. For insurance purposes, SARCAN recycling technicians may not pick up electronics that have been left outside the door.


"We're not supposed to touch anything outside the building," said SARCAN Assistant Manager Colette Katschke. "Please do not abandon your stuff at the door."


Paint is also accepted by SARCAN in this manner if in its original container. Residents are welcome to take the free paint for their own use.


Styles said that once the provincial government unveils their Multi Material Recycling Program, which has promised to cover up to 75 percent of operating costs for municipal recycling depots, the City may be able to get money for their recyclables once again. They will have to decide, however, how to implement such a depot. The program will not cover any construction or equipment costs associated with the depot.


"What the City has to decide is if we should be thinking about partnering with SARCAN to outfit the depot," said Styles.


Styles noted that refuse bins, like the ones recently implemented in Weyburn, are being used by cities around the world as a way to encourage residents to reduce their garbage output by recycling more.


"I think recycling is the right thing to do," stated Styles. "We can't just be single-use consumers. We need to save what we can so there's a world left for our grandkids."