PARKSVILLE — Local organizers and Recycle BC have come to agreement on a six month extension for a popular, temporary recycle depot in Oceanside.
Lacking local options for bulk recycling, the depot at 1080 Industrial Way will be available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every other Saturday, beginning Jan. 10 and running through June 27.
Run by the Parksville Community Centre Society, interim president Albert Ruel said it’s an immensely popular offering for people looking to responsibly dispose of material either too large, or not allowed in residential curbside collections.
“When we do it, it’s very busy. I think our lowest day we’ve had about 400 cars through the gate, and I think the last time was our busiest in terms of cars where we had over 700 cars come through the gate. On an average day, we fill about 95 super sacks, four foot by four foot by four foot sacks. We’ve had days as high as 150 super sacks of recycling that we keep out of the landfill.”
Accepted materials include flexible plastic packaging, both white and coloured styrofoam, non-deposit glass bottles and jars, as well as paper packaging and cardboard.
Operating in community since 2023, the depot helps Oceanside residents avoid drives into Nanaimo for full recycling services.
Ruel is hopeful the service can expand, with conversations already underway.
“Our former president Duane Round, who passed away suddenly in November, he had certainly been engaged with Recycle BC to do a two day a week depot at the same site. When Duane left us, we just asked Recycle BC to pause that process so that the rest of us could get our feet back under us.
Ruel said the six month extension of the pop-up model will give them some needed time, with the hopes of expanding to a two-day-per-week model by mid-year.
A full list of dates for the pop-up depot are:
- January 10 and 24
- February 7 and 21
- March 7 and 21
- April 11 and 25
- May 2, 16 and 30
- June 13 and 27
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