Keep washing those cans!

Many Coronach residents have been trained to wash their recyclables, take the lids off of the bottles, separate their load and take the labels off the cans.
All for the good of our environment! But is all of the good work going to good use?
Some residents do not believe so. If you make a trip out to the garbage dump you will see the fruits of our labours; shiny, clean tin cans all in a heap at the dump!
This was a shock to one resident who relayed her dismay to the Triangle News.
A call to the Town office in Coronach cleared up the situation.
Murray Setrum, town administrator explained, "Right now, recyclying companies are not receiving tin cans anywhere so we are storing them at the landfill. Once a company gets into recycling, we will ship the cans out." Setrum further explained the situation with tin cans. "We used to be able to include them in the steel recycling and they were sold that way. They don't take tin cans with the steel anymore. We are holding off until we can get a recycling distributor to accept the tin cans."
According to Setrum, the Sarcan depot and the town recycling depot accept a number of items that at this time, have no place that recycles them.
"Right now, we have styrofoam and certain glass products that are not recyclable but we do take them and store them till such time we can," said Setrum.
According the Setrum, all levels of government are working on a recycling plan. "SUMA (Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association), along with the provincial government is formulating a plan to try to get everything reused."
"We want people to carry on recycling, eventually the items that are not recyclable at this time should be in the not too distant future." he concluded.
The Coronach Sarcan depot accepts the town recycling and encourages people to continue to recycle their cans. The cans are collected in four foot square tote bags and then stored until such time they can be recycled.
Sarcan employee Maryanne Calkin would like to remind people to remove their Campbells soup can labels and to send them to the school where they are collecting them for materials and equipment for the school.
The Sarcan employees also encourage residents to wash out all containers and to remove bottle caps.
Where does it go
A flyer from Sarcan explains what happens to a recycled item once it is dropped off at the depot. Aluminum cans are the once recyclable that is returned to use in the same form. A can could be processed, filled and back on the shelf as a new can in as little a 60 days.
Plastic bottles are squashed and shredded and the plastic flakes are then turned into new bottles, buckets, pails, fleece clothing and high grade carpet.
Coloured glass is crused and sold for use in fiberglass insulation. clear glass is melted into glass spheres and added to road paint for reflectivity.
Juice boxes and gable tops go through a process called hydrapulping which separates the different materials. The paper pulp is made into corrugate, napkins and other papers. The plastic is used to make plastic wood for things like fences, decks and planters.
Paper milk cartons also go through the hydrapulping. The fiber is made into boxes, cardboard and gypsum board. This plastic is also used to make plastic wood.
Plastic from the plastic milk jugs can be mixed with other plastic to make park benches, bins and other sturdy products.
Sarcan also collects stryfoam, tin cans, computers, televisions, electronics, household paint containers and paint aerosol cans (full or empty).
Sarcan is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 to 4:20 and Thursdays from 9 to 5:20 and they are open through lunch.
Other recyclables
The Coronach Coop is your drop off point for used oil, oil filters, oil containers, vehicle batteries, propane tanks and plastic Coop grocery bags.
The Coronach Library will take your used cell phones, batteries, cords and cases, as well as printer ink and toner cartridges.
The What Not Shoppe is looking for your gently used clothing and household items.
The Coronach Town Paper Depot welcomes separated white paper, coloured, newsprint, glossy and cardboard.