28 - Sunday, January 20, 1391 - North Shore News BUSINESS Photographic fixer is a regular silver mine EVERY BATCH of photographic fixer solution has a silver lining for a North Vancouver company holding the B.C. distribu- tion rights for a new pro- cess to rejuvenate and recy- cle fixer solutions used to develop black and white film. Silrec Technology Inc. president Donald Esplen said the solution to fixer pollution — an estimated six million litres of the chemicals are dumped annually down B.C. drains — was invented at the University of Alberta and devel- oped by Transfer Technology Inc. of Edmonton. Medical X-ray labs, dentists, newspapers, graphic artists and industrial X-ray testing companies process black and white film and pour their way through about 75 per cent of the fixer solution market. The waste product, ammonium thiosulphate and silver, is harmful SILREC TECHNOLOGY Inc. president Donald C. Esplen stands by the Continu-Fix process he is marketing to recycle and re- juvenate spent black and white photographic fixer. BC. Tel staff donates $1m IN A year that was filled with gloomy economic predictions, the B.C. Tel Group employees dug deeper into their pockets than ever before and raised more than $1.1 million in charitable donations. The figure surpassed donations raised by any other employee trust fund in the province and is still growing, according to B.C Tel. The annual campaign by the Telephone Employees Community Fund (TECF) began in September. More than 9,000 B.C. Tel Group employees, or 63 per cent, do- nated an average of $112 each. ““Not only did more employees give this year than ever before, they also gave more generously,’’ said TECF spokesman Hope Cumming. The TECF will donate the larg- est portion of the funds raised, some $220,000, to the intensive | HOMEOWNERS "INSURANCE e Special rates for the North Shore f © Mature citizen and burglar alarm discounts e Monthly payment plan 4 available by pre-authorized debit to your bank account {no service or finance charges) | f © New Home Discount i © Friendly Personal Service | ART LANGLEY INSURANCE | care unit of the special care ; nursery at B.C.’s Children Hospi- AGENCY LD. has al BSS = Y tal. The money is earmarked for VanCity has always ~~" >>) 4 the purchase of 27 ventilator 1345 MARINE DRIVE made it easy for people” 2 : to bank and save with us. WEST VANCOUVER 922-6102 Serving the North Shore for over 30 years. IG SAFECO’ monitor alarms and 32 cardio- respiratory monitors. The TECF was founded by B.C. Tel employees in 1955. It differs from other charitable fundraising drives because it is organized and administered soley b volunteer employees apes insurance Companies throughout the province, accord- ing to B.C. Tel. what you use. “OUR BEST RRSP RATE 11.10% NT ¥ y 10.00%: O72%6{10.207| 10.00% 0, 0, 0.25% Te p0 25H 0257 cat DAVID BLAIR «: 682-1751 - 1066 West Hastings Street. Vancouver, British Cotumpia VEE 3X1 Bf rates are subject to change without notice We otfer a NO-FEE RRSP VAN CiIT Y We think our way of doing business gives you More for your Money. And right now, to make it even easier for you to belong with us, we're offering a cash bonus* of 1/2% on all funds you transfer-in from any other financial institution to any VanCity More for your Money account.** More for your Money Accounts. Our new array of accounts and services now offers higher interest rates than before as well as more chequing and saving account options — including Daily Interest Savings - and a service charge set-up that allows you to pay only for Michael Becker HIGH TECH to salmon and trout. The GVRD tegional sewer-use bylaw states that wastes containing more than 1.0 mg/L of silver are classified as restricted wastes and may only be discharged in compliance with a waste discharge permit. The penalty for failing to comp- in TR O ons Minimum depostt ** Transfer Bonus not applicable ath T- Bill Savings Account, TeleService - 877-7000, TeleBanking - vencins 24-hour Touch Tone ‘Ranking Sernce, 877-7001. Telephone Denice forth the Dwaf, 870-5822. ity a : Gan In fous. oie *” We also offer you the convenience of TeleService, ~which allows you to accomplish a great deal of banking on the phone. And TeleBanking - our 24-Hour Touch Tone Banking Service which allows you access to your accounts for information: balances, deposits, withdrawals and various interest rates: 877-7001. [f you want to learn more about More for your Money please call TeleService at 877-7000. More for your Money Accounts: _ VarCity | VanCity | VanCity Chequing | Package Chequing/Savings * Bonus is refundable if funds are withdrawn within 90 days of depostt # $500. ly with discharge permits can run as high as $10,000. Silver becomes suspended in photographic fixer after film that has been exposed to light passes through it. The fixer solution hardens silver emulsion on those areas of the negative not exposed to light and strips away silver from areas exposed to light. Recovered silver means more money in the pocket. Silrec’s Continu-Fix process nets silver in filters after a secret ‘‘re- agent’’ rejuvenates the fixer and causes silver to settle. Said Esplen, a retired stock broker, ‘‘Two scientists at the University of Alberta spent 10 years developing this chemical agent. The big trick was not so much to turn the silver into an in- soluble precipitant. The major problem was to do it in such a way that you didn’t affect the chemistry of the fixer.’’ Silrec began marketing the reagent and Continu-Fix equip- ment (which i is rented to clients) in mid-1 DU CES : VanCity | VanCity Plan 24 | Daily Interest Account | Savings Account