WESTLOCK – Although the recycling centre at the Westlock Regional Landfill was only closed for a week during the pandemic, manager Tom Moore says the facility is running about 20 per cent below usual revenue this month.
“Our volume is down because a lot of businesses have shut down. Especially right now, a big portion of our revenue is commercial, so our revenue is down … Up to March, we were doing pretty good,” said Moore.
Predictions from the provincial government anticipate that the peak of COVID-19 cases will happen some time in May, and measures are expected to be in place until July. Moore says it’s difficult to assess how the facility will be impacted by that timeline.
“I’m going right now into our busy season. So if all of a sudden, no construction or anything like that goes, I’m probably going to have to lay people off. This is where we actually make our money. The other months, we hardly even make payroll. If there’s no construction going on, no demolition going on, we will get hurt.
“We are self-supporting. We don’t qualify for a lot of the loans that are out there. … Our business is not that predictable. I have to watch it week by week.”
The landfill is an essential service, so it has to stay open. Cutting hours or outright layoffs are possible options to keep the facility going through the pandemic.
“I don’t want to lay anybody off, it’s a bad time to do that, but I also don’t want to put us in jeopardy financially.”
Including Moore, five people are employed at the landfill: four full-time and one part-time.
As for the changes they’ve had to make at the recycling centre, Moore said they aren’t especially tricky. In keeping with physical distancing rules, staff can no longer assist patrons directly.
“For example, is somebody’s got a heavy load, they just have to figure out how to unload it themselves. The recycle centre, we’ve just organized it so people put their stuff into their own bins and then my staff, when there’s nobody around, will swap out the bins so there’s no contact at all.”
Cleaning protocols are also in place.
“They may have to shut down the centre for a few minutes while they wipe everything down with sanitizer, but that all depends on the volume and what’s been going on.”
The centre announced it was closing March 18.
“We had to close it so I could get appropriate gear for my staff. We didn’t have special masks. … We were only closed for a week.”
It opened back up for the public March 25.
“We’re trying to provide the same service, trying to keep things going, keep everybody safe – staff and customers. Please understand, we are trying our best to accommodate everybody’s needs and requests,” said Moore.
Andreea Resmerita, TownandCountryToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @andreea_res
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