Used antifreeze products are now included in the list of recyclable materials in Saskatchewan.
Environment minister Ken Cheveldayoff poured the first container of used antifreeze into a drum at Crown Shred and Recycling in Regina recently to kick off the newest initiative from the Saskatchewan Association for Resource Recovery Corp.
Antifreeze and plastic antifreeze and diesel exhaust fluid containers are among the products accepted for recycling at 35 EcoCentres managed by SARRC.
Farmers, small business operators and do-it-yourselfers with small volumes can drop off their products at nearly 200 collection points.
Read Also
Farming Smarter receives financial boost from Alberta government for potato research
Farming Smarter near Lethbridge got a boost to its research equipment, thanks to the Alberta government’s increase in funding for research associations.
Small volume users generate 15 to 20 percent of used oil and antifreeze materials in the province.
Registered collectors pick up used oil and antifreeze products from large industrial, commercial and institutional users, which generate the other 80 to 85 percent.
SARRC pays the collectors a return incentive to pick up the products.
SARRC already accepts used oil, oil filters and plastic oil containers up to 50 litres in size.
Cheveldayoff said used antifreeze is toxic, and dumping it out can cause serious water quality problems as well as harm people, pets and wildlife.
“It’s estimated that over two million litres of used antifreeze are generated each year in Saskatchewan,” he said in a news release.
Antifreeze can be reprocessed into new antifreeze. The containers are processed into various products, such as industrial posts, railroad crossings and new containers.
SARRC’s 180 members added an environmental handling charge to the materials April 1.
This includes 14 cents per litre on both concentrate and pre-mix antifreeze and 10 cents per litre capacity on antifreeze and diesel exhaust fluid containers up to 50 litres in size.
The charge is a user-pay levy and the sole source of funding for the re-cycling program.
SARRC estimates that Saskatchewan businesses and residents generate 25 million litres of used oil a year, along with 2.5 million oil filters and one million kilograms of containers.
Annual recycling rates for used oil and filters are 73 percent and 82 percent, respectively.
One study showed that Saskatchewan farmers reuse 80 percent of their 20 litre oil pails. Those turned in for recycling are often refilled.
More information is available at www.usedoilrecyclingsk.com.
