The prince of recycling

KYLE BERGER

Though he spends most of his days stationed at his desk in the middle of an undecorated Richmond warehouse, Dick Schell can't wait for the rest of the community to start enjoying the warm summer weather.

That's because Schell, owner of the Steveston Bottle Depot, knows that summer means the rest of us will be enjoying the typically hot, dry summer months in the outdoors, increasing the need to hydrate ourselves. That translates into a 150 per cent increase in the amount of bottles that get used and recycled and, in turn, a similar increase in the handling fees he gets paid by Encorp.

Schell's successes date back to a government mandate in 1994 that ordered bottling companies to offer refunds to customers who recycled their containers. Local landfills were starting to overflow with bottles that contained materials, like glass, that wouldn't decompose. Bottling companies like Coke, Pepsi and all the breweries formed Encorp, a nonprofit organization that became responsible for facilitating the recycling program.

Encorp was looking for entrepreneurs who were willing to run the bottle depots for a handling fee and Schell was one of only a few willing participants. Although the depot business started off losing money, Schell has been reaping the benefits of a community that has become more concerned about its environment.

"We started putting posters around the city promoting recycling and there were TV commercials and everything," Schell explained of the push in the mid-1990s to promote recycling. "Most people are pretty conscious of the environment now and they also realize that they are throwing their money away by not returning their bottles and cartons."

Empties can be refunded for anywhere between $0.05 to $0.20. According to Schell, there are some customers who have certainly enjoyed a kind payday from their responsible recycling.

"I had one customer recently bring 240 dozen beer bottles that he said had accumulated over a year and we paid him $1 a dozen," he said. "I have a regular customer who comes once every six weeks. The last time he came in he brought in 17 bags of juice boxes and took home $633."

Schell said that he also gets a lot of business from what he calls "pickers," who collect discarded containers from garbage or blue recycling boxes (which are only supposed to hold paper products).

"I have a regular who picks out of the blue boxes and he keeps a running tab of what he does every day," Schell explained. "His average is $2,500 a month. And when you think about that as tax-free dollars, that's about an income of $3,000 a month."

Schell also gives assistance to local organizations or schools, including the Richmond Jewish Day School, when they want to run a bottle drive fund-raiser. He provides the heavy-duty bags, information on what bottles are worth in refunds and will even pick up the full bags if necessary.

Schell's depot accepts almost any kind of bottle, container or juice box and has an easy-to-read price list for customers who visit his Steveston branch. Customers are even made aware of what their used items may become in their next life. Plastic bottles are turned into plastic containers or pails, bi-metal cans are turned into fencing products and broken glass bottles are turned into fibre-glass insulation.

The Steveston Bottle Depot is located on Trites Road, just a block west of where No. 2 Road meets the dyke. For recycling information or hours, call 604-241-9177.

Kyle Berger is a freelance journalist and graphic designer living in Richmond.

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