November 18, 2016 (Vancouver, BC) – Local charitable organization, United We Can, has recently developed numerous partnerships with some of the top Vancouver hotels to put in place a refundable beverage container recycle program at their properties. These programs not only have a positive environmental impact on the city of Vancouver, but they also help alleviate poverty by creating jobs and community opportunities in what is commonly referred to as “Canada’s poorest postal code,” the Downtown Eastside. Eighteen Vancouver hotels are currently partnered with United We Can’s recycling program, and this number continues to grow. The most recent hotel additions include The Hyatt Regency, Fairmont Pacific Rim, Fairmont Waterfront, L’Hermitage Hotel and the Wedgewood Hotel. Together, these five properties will allow for 7-10 additional positions to be created at the United We Can Bottle Depot (449 Industrial Avenue), which employs individuals with multiple barriers living in the Downtown Eastside.

The program is provided to hotels, restaurants, bars, apartment complexes and schools with no charge for pickups and provides the recycling totes complimentary to users of the program. Participating establishments simply set a timeline for pickups and United We Can handles everything from transporting the recyclable containers, replacing the totes and even sorting the items collected. This service is provided completely free of charge with United We Can working only for either partial or full donation of the deposit associated with the beverage containers collected. Long time customer, Irinel Nita, Engineering and Maintenance Manager at the Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver speaks of his experience working with United We Can stating, “I’m proud to say that by partnering with United We Can, we’ll be able to bring a small contribution to the City of Vancouver’s goal to become a zero-waste city by 2040.” He then goes on to say that the “Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver has always been a big player in our community’s sustainability,” thus making it a natural fit for the hotel and United We Can to work together on a recycling project.

For United We Can clients who are interested in seeing their monthly contributions and impact, customized reports are created for each participating establishment which details the quantity, in pounds, of each type of recyclable container received. Additionally, at the end of each year, each participating establishment is provided with a tax receipt for the dollar amount of the total container deposit donated to United We Can.

 

 

About United We Can: United We Can is a charitable organization established to support environmental, social, and economic improvement in Vancouver. Their mandate is to create economic opportunities for people with multiple barriers living in the Downtown Eastside through environmental initiatives such as recycling collection, lane cleaning and their needle sweep program.

The largest of their social enterprise projects is the United We Can Bottle Depot located at 449 Industrial Avenue. This project grew out of a vision of creating “green-collar” jobs while helping the local community and the people within it by offering self-employed recycling collectors (also known as binners) a safe and efficient location to exchange their bottles for a full refund. United We Can also offers commercial collection of bottles which involves the pick up of recyclables from apartments, schools, offices, hotels, restaurants and bars. The Vancouver Convention Centre is one of their largest clients and currently donates 100% of the recyclables picked up to United We Can. The lane cleaning needle sweep program is another of their large projects which removes roughly 80,000 needles from Vancouver streets each year. United We Can relies largely on sponsorship and the return of recyclables to stay in business. To learn more about how you can become a customer today visit: www.unitedwecan.ca, or call Jack OHalloran, Director of Business Development, at 604-375-1976.

 

Media Contact: Geoffrey Howes Chair, United We Can 604-788-9051 ghowes@livingbalance.ca