SARCAN’s last day at its current location on Manitoba Street in Moose Jaw will be Thursday, May 30, as they prepare to move to their new location at 52 Highland Road. 

The new recycling depot will be open to customers starting Monday, June 3, and will operate with the same hours as the current location, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. 

“SARCAN has been a part of the Moose Jaw community since SARCAN was created in 1988. It’s one of our very first depots, and they are still in their original building,” explained Jane Hubbard-Richards, communication & culture coordinator with SARC/SARCAN recycling. 

Their volume in both the number and types of items accepted has grown over the years, including beverage containers, paints, electronics, and batteries. “We’ve renovated our old location a few times throughout the years, but it’s time that we need to get into a new facility that can handle that growth.” 

Hubbard-Richards added that Moose Jaw’s SARCAN is in the top 10 list of busiest depots in the province, with over 60,000 costumers returning 17 million beverage containers yearly. 

"We hit a record high in our last reporting year of 501 million beverage containers in a single year, which is the first time we’ve cracked half a billion containers in a single year.” 

When it comes to the improvements of the new location, she described it as “bigger, brighter, and better.” 

Some aspects of the new depot to highlight include: 

  • Building is approximately twice the size of the old location 
  • Has a hand wash station for customers 
  • Drop & Go room is larger with two kiosks instead of one, and an opportunity to expand further in the future 
  • Conveyor belts are used to reduce employee strain and plastic bag use to transport materials, and the belts are fed with continuous water to self-clean and help with smells and stickiness  
  • More natural lighting with more windows, and automatic LED high-efficiency lighting 
  • More spacious front area for customers, as well as a larger loading area and parking lot 
  • Polyaspartic flooring made from recycled materials that is easier to keep clean, with natural grit to reduce slipperiness  
  • A transit stop in front of the parking lot for Route 1 – Athabasca East for those using transit services to access the facility. 
  • Increased capacity for bulk returns 

 

Moose Jaw Diversified Services is a SARC member and has been helping with the operation of the depot since it first opened.  

With 20 employees currently, Carman Boss, depot supervisor with SARCAN said they expect to hire four more people within the first 6 months of operation at the new location due to increased processing capacity. 

“The way our Drop & Go and our bulk orders are currently in our old place – bulk orders, we can only accept maybe 2-3 a week because of our limited space and what we can do,” said Boss, adding that they will be able to accept bulk orders daily at the new depot. 

Employees have had a chance to tour the new building and have had training sessions at a similar depot in Regina in preparation for opening.  

“On Saturday before we open, all the employees will be here to get used to the building, to do a quick training process again, make sure everybody is comfortable, and we’re just going to have a big dinner, and just let everybody get used to the building,” added Boss.  

Front area in new facility is more spaciousFront area in new facility is more spacious