Kenneth Brown
of The Crossroads
Residents of west central Saskatchewan have another location to recycle used oil thanks to the new EcoCentre opening up at the Eston and District Landfill.
The Eston and District EcoCentre first opened near the beginning of May, and the facility is now accepting used oil, oil filters, oil containers, antifreeze, antifreeze containers and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) containers, according to the Saskatchewan Association for Resource Recovery Corp. (SARRC).
Hours of operation for the EcoCentre are the same as the hours of operation for the landfill, a municipal waste facility that is jointly operated by the Town of Eston and the Rural Municipality of Snipe Lake.
The landfill’s hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and noon to 8 p.m. on Thursdays from April to September, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from October to March. People could go to www.eston.ca for more information on the landfill.
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Merv Hey, a program operations manager for SARRC, said the EcoCentre building was moved to the landfill in March and he travelled to Eston in April to provide training to the landfill staff.
There are limits in place for the materials.
The EcoCentre will accept up to 500 litres of used oil, 100 litres of antifreeze and one 205-litre drum of used oil filters per customer visit. People could also take the plastic oil, antifreeze and DEF containers to the location. Hey said the building has a 1,000-imperial gallon, or roughly 4,500-litre, tank, so it is why there are limits in place.
“It’s designed for quantities that a do-it-yourself mechanic would generate or a small business like a small engine repair (shop),” he said, recognizing the limits ensure the facility does not become overwhelmed with fluids after minimal customers.
Hey said the corporation wants to be able to serve as many people as possible, so the limits are there to ensure the EcoCentre is able to serve as many customers as possible. He noted that the facility is also there for the average resident and small acreage farmers – not large commercial farmers.
He noted that used oil, antifreeze and DEF containers will only be accepted if they are bagged and the lids have been removed.
He said large commercial operators often have tanks, and they have private operators pick up materials.
There used to be a SARRC EcoCentre in Kindersley operated by West Central Industries, a branch of the West Central Abilities agency, but the EcoCentre had to be closed due to a lack of available resources to operate the facility at the time. Staffing issues and a shift in priorities were reasons for the closure.
According to Hey, the corporation provides funding to the facility operators to help with part-time labour, and other funds based on the amount of fluid and containers collected at the facilities. Other centres are located in Unity, Rosetown, Leader and Biggar.
Hey said SARRC has 35 facilities operating across Saskatchewan and the corporation’s goal is to have each EcoCentre separated by a 75-minute drive at the most. A void was created after the facility in Kindersley shut down.
“We’re happy to be associated with Eston,” Hey said, adding he would encourage people to utilize the service in Eston. “We’re very happy to work with Eston and all the other locations around Saskatchewan to provide, as budgets allow, as many recycling options as we can.”
Michelle MacDonald, the chief administrative officer (CAO) for the Town of Eston, said the partnership with SARRC was formed after local landfill officials had learned the corporation was having a hard time finding a location in the area.
She noted that the topic came up at meetings, so local officials expressed an interest to help out and the corporation chose the landfill as a location for the EcoCentre. She said the partners made the necessary arrangements and the discussion “was kind of back and forth.” The town is happy to help.
“We’re happy to have another service to offer residents,” MacDonald said, recognizing that members of the local landfill authority view the partnership as a good way to provide another service for folks living in the area.
The more services the landfill could provide the better, the CAO said. People from outside of the district could also bring their household waste and clean wood to the landfill if they are already bringing items to the EcoCentre, but there are additional tipping fees for people who live outside of Snipe Lake, she added.
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