N.S. Recycles Billionth Beverage Container
Nova Scotians continue to prove they are world leaders in recycling with today's celebration of the billionth bottle recycled in the province.
A recognition ceremony at the Beehive Adult Service Centre and Enviro-Depot in Aylesford, Kings Co., kicks off National Waste Reduction Week in Nova Scotia. The enviro-depot received the billionth bottle earlier this fall.
At the event, Environment and Labour Minister David Morse congratulated the depot and all Nova Scotians on their accomplishments.
"By recycling a billion beverage containers, we are keeping litter off our roads and keeping valuable material out of our landfills," Mr. Morse said. "Now we can add the recycling of Nova Scotia's billionth beverage container to our list of recycling successes."
Derek Firth, chief operating officer of the Resource Recovery Fund Board (RRFB), said the billionth beverage container arrived at the Aylesford depot on Sept. 4. To mark the occasion the RFFB ran the Billionth Beverage Container promotion which brought in thousands of entries. Nova Scotia resident Randy Keddy's ballot was chosen from among those entries for a free weekend for four at White Point Beach Resort, Queens Co.
The Billionth Beverage Container promotion ran during the first two weeks of September through the network of 87 enviro-depots. The contest promoted the recovery of the billionth glass, plastic or aluminum beverage container recycled in Nova Scotia. Each enviro-depot drew a name at the end of the contest for a prize package containing recycled clothing and other promotional items. A winner was chosen from each depot and Mr. Keddy's name was selected from among those finalists.
Mr. Firth said the depots and others deserve a lot of credit.
"Recycling and composting have become the norm in this province thanks to the co-operation of the Department of Environment and Labour, the municipalities of Nova Scotia and the people of our beautiful province," he said.
The Beehive Adult Service Centre, a community-based organization, opened in 1968 and has been based in Aylesford since 1969. The centre is a vocational training centre for people with special needs, employing 29 clients and seven staff.
In addition to operating an enviro-depot on behalf of the RRFB, the centre is busy with four other operations including woodworking, sewing, baking and packaging.