Aluminum supply issues have caused a walker shortage, including here in Saskatchewan. (ID 99367142 © Katarzyna Bialasiewicz | Dreamstime.com)

By Susan McNeil

Walker shortage

Aluminum shortage leads to walker supply issue

Mar 21, 2022 | 3:00 PM

People are being asked to look in their basements, garages or other storage areas to see if they can find forgotten walkers.

A lack of available aluminum has led to challenges in finding walkers. SaskAbilities has put out a call in the hopes people will return the ones they loan out to patients following hip and knee surgeries.

Trevor Mather is the special needs equipment manager with SaskAbilities and said that last year, they loaned out 6,900 walkers.

“Currently it’s become an issue with our folding walkers. There’s an aluminum shortage,” said Mather.

SaskAbilities has five special needs equipment depots in the province, including one in Prince Albert.

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When people have surgeries such as on their hips or knees and then require help with mobility, SaskAbilities has a loan and recycle program.

“We rely on people bringing back equipment when its no longer being used,” said Mather.

They know they also need to supplement the returned items with new ones as some loans continue for years.

The lack of available aluminum is making it difficult to find new walkers.

Aluminum is a product that comes from bauxite ore, which is refined to create aluminum, which is heavily used in the construction and automotive industries. It’s third largest use is in foil and packaging, according to the Government of Canada’s website.

Globally, people went out less during the pandemic and stayed home which led in turn to consumption of more canned beverages, such as beer and pop.

North Americans are the largest consumers of beverages from aluminum cans and the U.S. does not have the same level of infrastructure as countries like Canada when it comes to recycling.

South of the border, only 10 states have container deposit legislation and the overall recycling rate on returnable goods in general is only 33 per cent, according to the related Wikipedia page.

In Canada, the only jurisdiction without legislation on container deposits is Nunavut.

So far, SaskAbilities has been able to supply the walkers needed, said Mather.

“We’ve been pretty lucky. We’ve been prioritizing all discharged clients so we’ve been getting walkers out to people with hip and knee surgeries,” Mather said.

They now issue the walkers as close to the date of surgery as possible to avoid running out but are looking at ways of filling the gaps.

We are looking at alternate models of walker to see if we can get them in a bit earlier,” Mather said.

They will take any walker that they have issued and can also on occasion use other walkers if they meet the requirements.

Organizations such as the Salvation Army will also take unneeded walkers.

The SaskAbilities walkers have a labelled sticker on them with SaskAbilities or the Sask. Ability’s Council or could have a six-digit identification number, depending on the age of the item.

Walkers can be returned to any SaskAbilities depot, which are found in Prince Albert, Yorkton, Regina, Saskatoon and Swift Current.

—

Susan.McNeil@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow