Cheryl Thomas
Super Save Gas has re-opened the Clearwater Bottle Depot and a steady stream of bottles and cans found their way from porches and carports into the back seats and trunks of cars, trucks and even arrived by bicycle last week.
Many were already handily bagged and ready to head off to the big recycle depot down the road. Others needed to be sorted. Some were just left in the Charity Bin – those will be counted, sorted and the money will go to local charities.
Clearwater folks – You Rock!
When I arrived I was relieved to find the friendly faces of John and Ross there to greet me, as well as some of the new owners: Welcome to the community, Shahbaz, Smile and Kuldeep. I love it that ‘our guys’ are working, as they have been steady employees for years and make the entire process of recycling a happy affair.
As the vehicles came and went, I quizzed Ross on some of the ‘finer details’ and here is what I learned:
• Why am I asked to take off the plastic caps from the water and pop bottles?
They are made of a different type of plastic. The depot will willingly send lids off to be recycled for you if you leave them there. However, if you consider the time the staff will need to take to remove them, this is a small favour we can do for the folk if we just do it at home.
• Is that the same for the glass bottles?
Yes, the glass is highly recyclable. However, the metal in the cap is a different material and needs a different process to process it for re-use. Great, I need to take the cap off the wine bottle to get the liquid out anyway, so it will save me a step if I don’t have to put it back on.
– Cheryl Thomas is the local representative on the Solid Waste Management public advisory team for the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. If you have a public beef or bouquet, send her a message, email, mail, talk to her or Facebook her, and she'll take it forward for you.