The Strathmore Bottle Depot is under new management.
The local organization welcomed its new manager, Sundeep Bhullar, on May 13. The depot has been operating for 25 years.
"We heard that the owners were selling, so we jumped on the opportunity," said Bhullar.
Bhullar previously ran multiple bottle depot locations in Calgary and has been active in the industry for 18 years.
"I love getting out and meeting new people. There are always new customers coming in, and it grew on me and became a part of life," added Bhullar, reflecting on his experiences with meeting new customers and bottle depot owners while going to many industry meetings and running bottle drives.
"Our main goal is to keep out as much as we can from the landfills," Bhullar said, speaking about his mission to keep the environment clean. "That's one of our passions and why we've continued in the business for this many years."
The management team plans to start a residential pick-up service and will introduce e-transfer to make donating bottles more accessible to Strathmore residents.
The new owners are also implementing a Drop and Go system, where farmers and those who live outside of town will also be able to drop off bottles in a designated area for the bottle depot to sort.
"We are just looking to serve the community," Bhullar mentioned. "We've always had a strong background of diversity within Calgary, helping out in the community from local bottle drives with scouts, Girl Guides, hockey teams, ringette teams—all sorts of organizations."
"Giving back to the community has always been in the ownership's business practice, so that's one thing that they believe heavily in and want to continue that in Strathmore."
To encourage community engagement, Bhullar is launching a giveaway.
In August, the organization will give away a PlayStation 5 to one person who wins a random draw. The prize is fully funded by management.
The bottle depot plans to do more draws later in the year.