UNITY — Unity SARCAN staff are stretching their legs — and recycling programs — in their new digs.
For the past three decades, the SARCAN recycling depot in Unity has made its home along Main Street. Earlier this year, the facility got the green light to move to a new location on First Street West, next door to the RCMP detachment. Depot supervisor Connie Bracken told Â鶹ÊÓƵ the relocation has improved many aspects of the business.
“The space is not much bigger than what we had on Main Street, but the layout of the building makes it feel like it is. We also have better parking for our customers and the trailers at the back,” she added.
Although the space was nearly ready to go for the staff, there were some major changes. The new location allows staff to use a forklift rather than hand-crank hoists to move bundles of recyclables into the trailers. For larger returns, there is a space at the back for easier unloading from trucks. The new facility also offers a more spacious break room and a proper office for Bracken.
When visiting the depot, it was hopping — the UCHS grad class had just completed a bottle drive. Bracken said this drive was the real test of how the new location could handle increased volume. While she admitted there are a few things she would adjust for future drives, the new space made things run much more smoothly.
The Unity SARCAN depot first opened in December 1988, six months after SARCAN was established in the province under the Saskatchewan Association for Resource Recovery Corporation (SARRC). In 1997, the depot moved from its original location to Main Street.
Upon entering the new building, customers are welcomed into a spacious entrance now. The Drop & Go program, located in the front right corner, allows customers to drop off recycling, use the kiosk to identify their bags, and choose to have their deposit sent by cheque or e-transfer.
“We ask for all lids to be removed from bottles if customers choose to use the Drop & Go service. If we come across any lids, the deposit for those bottles is donated back to Telemiracle. This is a standard practice for all the depots in Saskatchewan,” said Bracken.
To the left of the entrance, collection bins are available for more recent recycling programs. What began as a depot for empty beverage containers has grown to meet the increasing need for recycling and partnerships.
In 2006, SARCAN began working with Product Care Recycling to accept leftover paint and reduce hazardous waste in landfills. This program allows patrons to donate cans of paint or stain of any type or colour for others to use in their projects. The service is free aside from minor paperwork for recordkeeping.
The next partnership under the Recycle Saskatchewan umbrella came in 2010, when SARCAN depots began accepting electronic devices. Working with the Electronic Products Recycling Association (EPRA), items like televisions, computers, monitors and printers can be dropped off at depots. Bracken said the volume of electronics continues to grow — but not everything with a plug is accepted.
“We have had some customers bringing us their old lamps, toasters, blenders, etc., but none of those items are considered electronics, so we have to turn them away.”
In 2021, a partnership with Call2Recycle brought drop boxes for household battery collection to SARCAN depots.
The most recent addition came in December, with SK Recycles launching a program to accept a wider range of items — including non-deposit glass jars and bottles, flexible plastics and foam packaging. Items are shipped to a downstream processor selected by SK Recycles.
Currently, flexible plastics are sent to Merlin Plastics in Delta, B.C., where they are shredded. Foil chip bags and candy wrappers are removed before the rest is transformed into durable plastic products like lumber and curbs. Styrofoam packaging — including meat trays — is compacted into bricks used to make picture and window frames.
Clear glass and glass beverage containers are shipped to Potters Industries in Moose Jaw to be turned into reflective road paint beads, or to an Alberta processor to become fiberglass insulation. Reusable beer bottles in good condition are returned to local breweries and can be reused up to 16 times. Bracken noted that none of the items collected at SARCAN locations are shipped outside North America or end up in landfills.
With two full-time, one part-time and two casual staff members, the depot handled more than 2.3 million bottles, cans and milk jugs from almost 7,100 customers in the past fiscal year. While Bracken said she’s seen many interesting items come in over her 26 years, it's the customers and staff who make this labour-intensive job worthwhile.
