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Recycling depots change hands in Tofino and Ucluelet

Ozzard Environmental was successful in their bid to purchase SonBird Refuse & Recycling
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Recycle B.C. depots in Tofino and Ucluelet will be closed for 14 days starting Jan. 15, 2021 as new owners streamline the facilities.

Ozzard Environmental, a division of Ucluelet Rent It Centre, was successful in their bid to purchase all the assets from SonBird Refuse & Recycling. The business, which was listed for sale at $1.4 million, includes a fleet of trucks, bins and a 0.88 acre lot on Forbes Road in Ucluelet.

SonBird Refuse & Recycling served the West Coast for over 26 years. The new owners are two families, Robby and Trudy Lee and Mayco and Lilia Noël, who own and operate the Ucluelet Rent it Center Ltd.

“We need to do an all-stop in order to upgrade and change the layout of the facilities in order to better serve the workers. The easiest way to do that was to shut the depots down,” said Ozzard Environmental co-owner Mayco Noël.

Starting back up in February, hours of operation at the Tofino recycling drop-off station will be reduced from four days a week to two (Tuesdays and Fridays from 10:00-3:00 p.m.) and the Ucluelet recycling drop off location will be reduced from three days a week to one day (Wednesdays from 10:00am-3:00 p.m.). The Ucluelet depot will also be re-located to 317 Forbes Road, the Ucluelet Rent It Centre site.

“It’s only because we are acquiring and trying to re-assess. Service levels in the next couple months will look drastically different. For us, we’re just at the very beginning. It’s just about trying to get a handle on things,” said Noël, who is also the mayor of Ucluelet.

On Jan. 15, 2021 Ozzard Environmental will officially own the recycling depots.

“There is no better time for us to take over possession to spend the next 60-days, while things are a little bit slower in town, in order to better serve the commercial customers and also review the whole depot aspect. We just need some time to re-evaluate,” he said.

All residential curbside collection and commercial garbage / recycle collection will remain unchanged during this transition time with no disruption in service, according to an Ozzard Environmental press release.

“For us, we’ve been in commercial garbage since 2009. We’ve always had a desire to transition into this. I think, fortunately for the community, it’s locals that have bought it. We know that we are not going anywhere and we are basically trying to increase our market share of solid waste,” said Noël, adding that he will occasionally drive the refuse truck to see how they can better serve the community. The Alberni Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) is investing roughly $4 million in an organics sorting facility at the West Coast Landfill with curbside residential and commercial organics collection expected to roll out in the fall of 2022.

“That will allow for more diversion including commercial. That again for us, about offering commercial pick-up, that’s all part of what we see ahead of us to better serve the region,” Noël said.

RELATED: Curbside compost pickup coming to Tofino and Ucluelet



nora.omalley@westerlynews.ca

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