There’s a new face, a new name, and some exciting changes at Williams Lake Return-It Depot, formally Amanda Enterprises at 232 S. Mackenzie Avenue. New owner, Phil Jang, said they do more than take returnable cans and bottles. “We’re moving into more recycling, including electronics, and are working toward taking pesticide items and paint cans,” he said.
“One of the changes we’ve made is a move to self-sorting—a change that should have happened a long time ago. We used to have five sorting tables with five staff helping five customers; this new way we have 12 tables and can help 12 customers at the same time, with the same amount of staffing.”
Now the customers sort their own unless they’re donating them to one of 20 or 30 charities via Williams Lake Return-it Depot, or unless they want to pay a small fee for the staff to sort for them.
“Another reason we moved to self-sorting is a health issue; people brought in a lot of dirty returnables containing things like broken glass, rotten food, cigarette butts, spit, and urine,” he explained.
“Now that we’ve gone to self-sorting, the bottles and cans are a lot cleaner.
“Recycling matters; we’re definitely getting better at it,” he said.“As humans we created something for our convenience that will ruin the environment, and it’s our responsibility to fix it.”
For more information about Williams Lake Return-It Depot go to www.encorp.caor www.returnit.ca or call (250) 398-6522.
