ago the society took over the collection of deposit bev-
erage bottles and cans from the area’s wholesale beer

and , alcoholic . beverage distributor, Big River. It

seemed like a promising idea at the time in terms of
bringing money into the society, but that promise
hasn’t been realized; The society pays the public
$1.00 a dozen for beer cans and bottles instead of the
$1.20 Big River used to pay. The cans and bottles are
then sold to Big River for.$1.20, with the $,20 going
to support the society’s activities. But the public feels
like it’s. being stung for the $.20..Big River was
required by law to take the returned containers and
pay back the full deposit, so the bottle and can
return trade was never a money-making proposition,
just a cost of doing business for the distributor.

The soft drink can and bottle business is worse.
The society has to make a separate arrangement
with each distributor; Pepsi went along with the ar-
rangement, Coke did not. Western Family beverage
cans have to be taken back to Overwaitea, the

retailer, for the society to claim the deposits; Crag-.

mont cans and bottles go to Safeway. Donahue stops
short of saying it’s a nightmare, but the inconsist-
encies and complications of working the beverage
. container deposit system appear to be overwhelming.
Finlay’s offer to buy newsprint looks promising. An
effective collection system could probably net 15-20
tons a month in the region, with Finlay or its agent
taking care of the transportation. Selling paper to

NewsTech requires sorting into several grades,
baling and-then a shipping arrangement, currently
through Rivtow, who have agreed to barge material

_ to Vancouver from Kitimat. At the receiving end, the

price is not assured until NewsTech has inspected
the product. : 7 ,

The society’s mandate involves a net cost, break
even proposition: it shouldn’t cost more to recycle

that it does to landfill. The government takes a

narrow view of the cost, not considering the long-
term environmental impact of landfilling and other
esoteric factors, but at $300 a ton running a blue box
program is probably permanently beyond reach,

Donahue says there is confusion about who is
responsible for the generation of waste material. A
policy vacuum exists that in effect makes no one res-
ponsible, neither the consumer nor the manufacturer,
although Donahue said he has noticed a significant
trend among retailers to take more responsibility for
the waste material they generate in the market. But
as it stands now, it’s everyone for himself, with the
recycling society attempting to function in whatever
capacity each differing expectation places on it.

In his trials and investigations as a member of
the society’s board, Donahue has come to at least one
unshakeable conclusion. "No blue. boxes here," he»
says. "No way" 0

— Michael Kelly

we .
wee
py |
ees y
ee
gee
Me .
4
.
* ’

‘Nove how everybody's building
. remakes of the classics?
“Yawn.
~ Yamaha
‘went another
; . ‘route. They. .
~builtaclassic , re
from scratch... 4m
 Theallnew @
_ 600ccSecall
- has a radical, :
‘Genesis-inpired %
engine layout

Monocross rear suspension, front and
&. rear disc brakes.
. And handling that’ S
lighter than a history

KEN GIBSON

: "KEN'S MARINE

Terrace Review — March 27, 1992 —