This fall, students across Saskatchewan are being encouraged to recycle their beverage containers, especially juice and milk cartons, at their schools and in their communities. SARCAN School, a new website that launched today, www.sarcanschool.ca, gives schools the ability to track the quantity of beverage containers they recycle, so they can set fundraising goals and learn about the environmental impact of recycling. The website also gives users the option to order recycling bins to collect refundable drink containers with ease.

As part of Waste Reduction Week in Canada, a recycling relay at Westmount School in Saskatoon launched @SARCAN Recycling’s new website (www.sarcanschool.ca) encouraging Saskatchewan students to recycle their beverage containers, especially juice and milk cartons. The Carton Council of Canada sponsored the launch and a recycling contest featured on the website.

“Saskatchewan residents are amongst the best at recycling in North America, yet we don’t have strong return rates for cartons. Aluminum, plastic and glass have remarkable return rates; however, cartons are not being recycled as often. We want to make cartons as popular to recycle as the other drink containers,” said Amy McNeil, SARC/SARCAN Executive Director.

The launch event was held at Westmount School in Saskatoon, and was part of a kick-off to National Waste Reduction Week. In attendance was Mr. Fred Bradshaw, MLA for Carrot River Valley, as well as staff members of the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council and SARCAN.

To encourage recycling throughout the school year, the new SARCAN School website features a recycling contest, The Great Carton Search, sponsored by the Carton Council of Canada.

“We are proud to be part of these great initiatives. The SARCAN School website and the Great Carton Search Contest will contribute to increasing the number of cartons recycled in Saskatchewan, giving them a second life as paper, tissues, and construction materials. Young people are a powerful catalyst for change in our communities and it’s exciting to support and encourage them,” said Isabelle Faucher, Managing Director of the Carton Council of Canada.

Prizes will be awarded to students whose recycling efforts had the most creativity and impact. There are three available cash prizes of $1,000 for elementary schools, and two cash prizes of $1,000 for high schools. Any school in Saskatchewan is welcome to register for SARCAN School and submit an application for the contest.

SARCAN Recycling’s mandate is to provide a socially responsible and environmentally progressive recycling system that helps foster the sustainable development of communities across Saskatchewan. SARCAN’s parent organization is SARC, the provincial association that provides consultation, training, services and leadership to community-based organizations.

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For more information, please contact:

Sydney Smith, Communications
Phone: (306) 933-0616, ext. 236
Email: ssmith@sarcan.sk.ca

Isabelle Faucher
Managing Director, Carton Council of Canada
Cel: (647) 967 5881
Email: ifaucher@recyclecartons.ca

Read the article featuring cartons in Recycling Product News’ May/June 2018 edition.