The Parksville Bottle and Recyling Depot has received the “Top Collector” award for 2019.
It’s one of 30 return collection facilities in the province that has been honoured for the collection of used oil and/or antifreeze materials.
The owners of the depot, Neil and Louise Tyler, said the reward came at a time when they had just endured the outrage of the community over the news that it would no longer accept glass, Styrofoam and soft plastics at the end of February.
“We went from one extreme to the other,” said Louise. “We just loading all the stuff we collected over the weekend and when I saw this, it was so nice.”
The Parksville depot placed 19th out of the 30 facilities recognized by the non-profit group, BC Used Oil Management Association, which is dedicated to the collection and recycling of lubricating oil, oil filters, oil containers, antifreeze and antifreeze containers in the province.
Will Burrows of BC Used Oil presented the Tylers with a plaque on Tuesday for being one of the top collectors out of close to 250 collection facilities in the province.
Louise said they’ve brought back the oil collection service in their 25th year in business as they were provided with a cleaner and more efficient method of collecting used oil.
“It’s a messy job,” said Neil. “But what we have here now makes it a lot more convenient and easier for us. The oil is picked up once a week.”
Each year, approximately 50 million litres of oil, and three million litres of antifreeze are collected and responsibly managed through the approximately 300 public collection facilities and over 4,000 generators across the province, which are managed by the BCUOMA program.
READ MORE: Reminder: Recycling collections changes coming March 1
The 30 BC RCFs who received ‘Top Collector’ recognition from BCUOMA for 2019 are:
1. Greater Vancouver, (Maple Ridge) Ridge Meadows Recycling Society
2. Capital, (Victoria) Hartland Landfill
3. Cariboo, (Williams Lake) Jepson Petroleum Ltd. (Williams Lake)
4. Skeena-Queen Charlotte, (Prince Rupert) Petro Canada (Prince Rupert - Marina)
5. Cowichan Valley, (Duncan) Bings Creek Recycling Centre
6. Cariboo, (Quesnel), Jepson Petroleum Ltd. (Quesnel)
7. Thompson-Nicola, (Kamloops) Desert Cardlock Fuel Services Ltd (Kamloops)
8. Fraser Valley, (Mission) Mission Recycling Depot
9. Greater Vancouver, (Coquitlam) Mr. Lube #159 (Coquitlam)
10. Cariboo, (100 Mile House) Castle Fuels (2008) Inc. (100 Mile House)
11. Greater Vancouver, (Surrey) Hallmark Ford Sales Ltd
12. Thompson-Nicola, (Kamloops) Castle Fuels (2008) Inc. (Kamloops)
13. Central Okanagan, (Kelowna) Great Canadian Oil Change (Kelowna)
14. North Okanagan, (Vernon) Interior Freight & Bottle Depot Ltd.
15. Kitimat-Stikine, (Terrace) Petro Canada (Terrace)
16. Central Kootenay, (Castlegar) Ernie’s Used Auto Parts
17. Thompson-Nicola, (Lower Nicola) Lower Nicola Eco-Depot (TNRD)
18. Capital, (Langford) GFL Environmental
19. Nanaimo, (Parksville) Parksville Bottle and Recycling Depot
20. Fraser-Fort George, (Prince George) Foothills Boulevard Regional Landfill
21. Greater Vancouver, (Surrey) Semiahmoo Bottle Depot
22. Greater Vancouver, (Langley) Great Canadian Oil Change (Langley)
23. Fraser Valley, (Chilliwack) Chilliwack Bottle Depot
24. Okanagan-Similkameen, (Summerland) District of Summerland Landfill
25. Comox Valley, (Cumberland) Comox Valley Waste Management Centre (Cumberland)
26. Central Okanagan, (Kelowna) Desert Cardlock Fuel Services Ltd (Kelowna)
27. Greater Vancouver, (Langley) Mobil 1 Lube Express - Langley 64 Ave
28. Sunshine Coast, (Sechelt0) Columbia Fuels (Sechelt)
29. Peace River, (Fort St. John) Fort St John Co-op Association - 100 Ave
30. Cowichan Valley, (Ladysmith) Peerless Road Recycling Centre
What happens to the collected used oil? It is taken to a B.C. used oil recycling centre where it is re-refined into new lubricating oil and used as a fuel in pulp mills, cement plants and asphalt plants. Any vehicle maintenance facilities, automobile owners, and other machinery maintenance operations that use oil also can use re-refined oil.
The used oil filters, which contain reusable scrap metal, are sent to the recycling company in Seattle where they are turned into metal products like rebar, nails and wire. Plastic oil and antifreeze containers can be recycled into new oil containers, flowerpots, pipe, guardrails, and patio furniture.