Five Vancouver Island recycling centres are being recognized for their collection and disposal of motor oil and antifreeze.
The top 30 list has been compiled by the BC Used Motor Oil Management Association. It’s a non-profit that collects and recycles motor oil, antifreeze and other hazardous products.
In its third year of running the Top Collector Awards, the Harland Landfill in Victoria took home third place, behind centres in Maple Ridge and Burnaby.
The four other centres are as follows:
- Bings Creek Recycling Centre, Duncan (10th)
- Peerless Road Recycling Centre, Ladysmith (23rd)
- Comox Valley Waste Management Centre, Cumberland (25th)
- Campbell River Waste Management Centre (CVRD), Courtenay (30th)
The centres were chosen based on multiple factors including the total amount of used oil and antifreeze, filters and containers collected.
The association also looked at the centre’s years of participating, and support of the association or other programs.
BC Used Oil Management Associating CEO David Lawes said they are looking for companies that make recycling easier.
“We want a good location, easy for people to get to, lots of space for the sea container infrastructure, a place that’s well known in the community and a place that takes back multiple materials works really well,” said Lawes.
He said the oil is collected and then taken to refineries in the Lower Mainland and other areas to be recycled into motor oil or reused antifreeze.
“We have a suite of trucking companies that go pick up the stuff at facilities province-wide,” he said. “Most of the oil is going to the re-refinery in North Vancouver and getting turned back into new lubricating oil.”
He added on average around 75 per cent of the oil collected is able to be refined, including both synthetic and crude oil.
He says the impact over his seven years with the association has shown a change in the amount of job creation and public interest in recycling oil for environmental reasons in B.C.
He adds getting the oil in as quickly as possible is a must so it can be refined faster. It’s free to access and drop off the oil, and areas can be found on the BC Used Oil website.
