Old bikes get new turns

In St. Albert, you can take a range of discarded household items: cardboard boxes, milk cartons, dead batteries, bicycles, and newspapers for instance.

Wait ... what? You can recycle a bicycle?

The answer is yes, says Christian Benson, the city’s manager of environment, and it’s been going on for a few years now. It all started when the city added a new feature to its recycling depot on Chevigny Street.

“About four years ago, we brought in a scrap metal bin for our recycling depot in the hopes that we could assist residents in getting rid of material that’s really highly valued in our region for recycling,” he began, noting that a trend soon arose.

“What we actually ended up seeing is that our staff that work in the depot had noticed quite a few bikes going into that scrap metal bin. For the most part, lots of the bikes looked like they were in really good, usable shape.”

He said that the facility’s staff members are “really cognizant and great upcyclers” so they brought a suggestion forward to public works management.

“They said, ‘Look, we’re going to start separating these things out. If we could talk and work with a couple of non-profits in the region, I’m sure that a couple of them would be interested in these bikes … and get them re-used.’”

With practically zero advertising except for word of mouth, the city has been doing gangbuster business.

“We get four, five, six hundred bikes a summer. It’s something that the community pretty much knows about.”

People can bring in their bikes, no matter what condition they’re in, and drop them off along the inside fence area of the recycling yard. There, staff team up with representatives from various non-profit organizations to sort out the ones that still have life left in them even if it means that a couple of minor adjustments and a little bit of maintenance are needed.

Those that don’t make the cut are in the right place anyway. They get tossed in the bin for good.

The non-profits end up benefiting with some free rides. For example, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul recently acquired a few bicycles to send to Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., a few weeks ago. The society had arranged for a seacan filled with a wide variety of household needs and food items to be shipped to the far north community as it struggles with sky-high prices at the grocery and other supply stores.

Bikes are pretty unique for the recycling yard. Other items including paint, electronics, and tires are strictly regulated by Alberta Recycling Management Authority.

“We’re not really in the situation to allow our residents a sort of ‘Take It or Leave It’ site for these materials,” Benson said. “Generally, we don’t let a lot leave the depot to the residents and there’s a lot of reasons why.”

This is not the first time that staff have done something outstanding with recycling and upcycling. They recently won an award through the economic development department when they reused some gardening materials and started a few tomato plants, a practice that is still in effect today.

“They use rainwater to water them. The guys are pretty cognizant so certainly if they see something useful and they’re able to repurpose it within the depot, then that’s what they’ll do.”

People can visit www.stalbert.ca/living-here/utilities/waste-organics-and-recycling/drop-off-locations/recycling-depot to find out more about what can be recycled in the city.

For items that the city doesn’t accept, try calling the Recycling Council of Alberta at 1-800-463-6326 or visit www.recyclinghotline.ca to learn about other disposal options in the region.