19 Mar

As part of our electronic waste recycling program we collect old TVs, along with computers, stereos, video equipment, [caption id="" align="alignright" width="320"] Old broken TV (Photo credit: schmilblick)[/caption] and many other electronics. When TVs arrive at our depots we have a special procedure we take when receiving and preparing them to be sent to processing plants in the B.C. interior because believe it or not, TVs are toxic. Despite international laws designed to prevent this, many developed countries send e-waste overseas to Asia and Africa. Inspections of 18 European seaports in 2005 found as much as 47 % of waste destined for export, including e-waste, was illegal. It is important that you know that when you recycle your electronic waste at Island Return It, we never send product overseas for dismantling. We use only approved facilities in North America. Older TVs Present a Special Challenge In particular, older TVs with CRTs (cathode ray tubes) need to be handled...

06:15 / Community / Recycle Me
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12 Mar

In Campbell River, and Duncan the Island Return It Recycling Centres offer a free paint exchange and recycling program from Product Care. Along with being the most cost-effective and energy-efficient alternative for handling leftover paint, the Paint Exchange puts paint where it belongs -- on buildings, walls, and fences -- and diverts it away from our sewers, dumps, and landfills.   Leftover paint is given away on an as-is, as-available basis. There is no limit on the amount of paint an individual or organisation can take. Consumers using this service must sign a waiver form. To take advantage of this offer, simply visit one of the participating Island Return It Recycling Centres and have a look at the paint rack which is usually in a very prominent place up front. Once you've selected your paint bring it up to the counter where one of our friendly staff members will give you Product Care's waiver* to sign...

09:37 / Recycle Me
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05 Mar

The concept of recycling has been around for ages, generations have grown up learning about the three Rs (Reduce, Reuse & Recycle) and (at least in this part of the world) there is a negative association with not recycling. Having said that, we know that there is a lot of miss-communication, half truths and gray areas around recycling and we would like to help set the record straight on a few of these recycling myths. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="400"] (Photo credits: www.recyclereminders.com)[/caption] Myth #1 - Recycling is the Only Way to Reduce Trash While recycling is a really great way to reduce trash you can also tackle this issue by shopping mindfully. For example, do you really need the product with all the extra packaging? Could you choose an alternative product to the one packed in Styrofoam? Can you buy in bulk? Can you purchase reusable items instead? Another simple way to reduce your...

09:30 / Industry News / Recycle Me
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14 Nov

Upon first glance it doesn’t make any sense does it? We never take your money, in fact we are usually giving out refunds for empty beverage containers. We sell cases of wine and beer bottles for less than the cost of a bottle of wine and we save huge bags of empty egg cartons and give those to local chicken farmers for a $1 a bag. Never mind the thousands of dollars we donate to community organizations, charities and local sports teams every year. How are we still in business? I’m so glad you asked! It works like this: Our depots are funded by product stewardships. A stewardship is an environmental management strategy that operates under the principal that whomever is creating, producing, selling or using a product should be responsible for minimizing that product’s impact on the environment. This is usually manufacturers and producers (i.e. Pepsi and Coca-Cola) or Consumers (this...

22:53 / Industry News
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