91原创

Aldergrove Return-It Depot is now amongst the 30 best oil recycling businesses in the province, an honour that means a lot to owner Sung Kim.

On March 23, BC Used Oil Management Association (BCUOMA) presented the local depot an award and honoured them for their exemplary performance and commitment to the collection of used oil and antifreeze materials across the province throughout 2021.

Ranked 22 in B.C., the local depot was praised in the past too, for its environmental efforts by 91原创 MP Tako van Popta.

Kim is overwhelmed by the amount of people reacted positively to the facility, some even coming to drop off oil from other areas of the Lower Mainland, Sung previously told The Star.

During the past two years, the pandemic has significantly affected how our used oil recycling centres have been able to operate their businesses, said David Lawes, BCUOMA鈥檚 chief executive officer.

鈥淗owever, I鈥檓 extremely proud at how resilient they have been during these challenging times, and how well they have continued to provide their customers with safe, easy to use, and convenient facilities where they can return their used oil and antifreeze materials,鈥� he said of Kim and others.

The Victoria-based not-for-profit association ranked the City of Burnaby Eco-Centre as the top collector. Maple Ridge鈥檚 Ridge Meadows Recycling Society took the second spot.

RELATED: 91原创 MP commends Aldergrove Return-It Depot鈥檚 environmental efforts

For the second year in a row, the association also selected one 鈥渙utstanding鈥� recycling centre as the most improved for increasing its collection of used oil and antifreeze materials by the largest percentage.

While the association does not release the volume of oil collected by each facility, to avoid unnecessary competition, Lawes said that the local recycling depot is a 鈥渇antastic鈥� facility.

He congratulated all the collectors and encouraged them to continue to look for opportunities to upgrade and improve recycling facilities.

鈥淥ur top collectors went above and beyond by upgrading their infrastructures to make collection more environmentally friendly, educating their customers about used oil recycling, installing new informational signage, and promoting used oil and antifreeze recycling in their communities,鈥� he said.

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All of the antifreeze collected across the province is currently recycled into new antifreeze.

鈥淎nd this cycle can continue indefinitely without any quality sacrifices,鈥� said Lawes.

Kim, too encouraged people to make use of the free service.

鈥淚t is extremely easy and quick for customers to swing by and recycle their used oil and antifreeze materials, and it doesn鈥檛 cost anything to drop these materials off,鈥� Kim noted.

In 2021, 68 per cent of the used motor oil collected by the registered collectors was refined into new ready-for-sale lubricating oil. The remaining 32 per cent of collected, used oil was processed and sold as a new product.

Lawes believes that purchasing recycled oil and antifreeze is a step people can take to help close the loop and shift to a circular economy.

He added that he is honoured to work with such a dedicated group of business owners and managers across British Columbia who are passionate about providing their customers with great service while also focusing on the environment.

鈥淭hese awards are our way of thanking the top collectors in the province for continuing to do an excellent job.鈥�

The depot, located at 27482 Fraser Hwy., was one of the first Return-It facilities in the Fraser Valley to accept oil through a grant that provided them with a 20-foot modified sea container and two 1,000-litre tanks.

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