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Feature articles from the latest issue of the RCA's member newsletter "Connector"
Available in colour pdf format, subscription to the "Connector" is included in an RCA membership.
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Province and Retailers Agree to Reduce Plastic Bag Use
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On June 2, the Government of Alberta and four of Canada’s major retail associations signed an agreement that will see industry take action to reduce plastic bag use across the province.
“Many Albertans are concerned with the number of plastic bags littering streets and entering landfills,” said Rob Renner, Minister of Environment. “This agreement with retailers is an important step in reducing plastic bag waste in every community.”
The retail industry will voluntarily implement a strategy to – by 2013 – reduce by half the approximately 900 million plastic bags used in 2008. The strategy will be implemented at industry’s own cost and includes education initiatives to promote the use of reusable shopping bags.
The four organizations represented in the voluntary agreement with the province are the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors (CCGD), Retail Council of Canada (RCC), Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG), and the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores. Together, these retail associations represent more than 90% of all retail sales in Alberta.
“Waste minimization is a shared responsibility between industry, government and consumers,” said Peter Pilarski, Director (Alberta), Retail Council of Canada. “Retailers are committed to significantly reducing the number of plastic bags distributed in Alberta. Educating consumers and providing alternatives to plastic bags are key to meeting the aggressive targets we have set as an industry.”
Many retailers have already begun to implement a variety of initiatives to reduce the distribution of plastic bags. Using 2008 as a baseline for the strategy recognizes those efforts and benefits Albertans because bag reduction targets must be met sooner.
2010 Rs of Excellence Awards – Call for Nominations
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The RCA is seeking nominations for its 2010 Rs of Excellence Awards.
If you know a person, program or organization that has made an outstanding contribution towards waste reduction, please let us know.
Application is simple:
Submit a brief description of the nominee’s achievements and why you think they deserve an award. Considered criteria include:
- Environmental impacts (i.e., quantified reductions in waste)
- Innovation and progressiveness
- Leadership
- History and track record
- Overall environmental commitment
Please include contact information for the nominee as well as yourself. Please include two letters of support with your nomination.
You can use the electronic submission form or fax your nomination to 403.843.4156.
Application deadline: August 13, 2010.
Awards will be presented at the RCA’s Waste Reduction Conference “Building Tomorrow”, October 13-15, 2010.
RCA New Member Profile
Urban Impact Expands Into Calgary
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On the heels of winning the Private Sector award for Environmental Leadership from the Recycling Council of British Columbia in May, Urban Impact is pleased to announce more exciting news: the company has expanded across the Rockies and will now be servicing 750 new clients with four new collection vehicles in Calgary.
The expansion coincides with Urban Impact’s 20 th anniversary in business. Accordingly, Founder and President Nicole Stefenelli is humbled and excited with this move ahead, while at the same time looking back over the past two decades.
“We’re celebrating our 20 th by giving back to the communities we live and work in every month this year, in themes of 20s,” says Nicole. Some of the initiatives including paying the registration fees for 20 kids for Kid Sport BC this month, sending 20 kids to YMCA summer camp in July, sponsoring 20 acres of Rainforest in Costa Rica in August, registering 20 kids to play in Coastal Squash League in September, and planting 20 large trees in Delta in October... and so on!
Urban Impact has also been walking its talk en route to Calgary, by sponsoring the first leg of the Clean Bin Project’s film tour from Vancouver to Calgary beginning in early June and taking place all this month. The Clean Bin Movie screens June 24, 7 pm, at The Globe cinema. A representative from Urban Impact will introduce the film that evening.
“We want to thank the communities we’ve worked and lived in for the past 20 years and look forward to now being able to assist Calgary businesses with their recycling, shredding and zero waste programs as well,” adds Stefenelli. “We look forward to getting more involved with the communities in Calgary as well.”
Urban Impact provides all its clients with Certificates of Diversion which explain how much waste each client has diverted from landfill by using the company’s services. Urban Impact Calgary will be providing Certificates of Diversion to all its clients as well.
About Urban Impact
Urban Impact is a family-owned and operated business committed to environmental conservation and global responsibility. Last year the Richmond, BC-based company collected and diverted 95,000 metric tonnes of recyclable material from local landfills. The company has also been named one of the best employers in the province by BC Business Magazine.
Urban Impact was devised in 1989 as a university project of founder Nicole Stefenelli who sought to prove that it was viable for commercial businesses to reduce their waste disposal costs and green their businesses by recycling. Launched in 1990 as the first multi-material recycling company in the Lower Mainland, Urban Impact now services 4500 locations from Whistler to Chilliwack. Recognizing that all businesses generate paper that is sensitive and confidential, Urban Shredding was established in 2004 to offer clients secure document destruction services. Sharing Urban Impact’s zero waste philosophy, most shredded materials are recycled.
Today, a combined staff of over 90 and 30 collection vehicles provide clients with complete recycling, shredding and green business consulting services from Urban Impact’s two facilities in North Richmond and New Westminster.
Urban Impact is also operator of the first commercial recycling Hybrid vehicle in Canada. The company hosts and sponsors the recycling education tours for elementary school students and to date has taken more than 1500 Lower Mainland students through the program.
Founder and President Nicole Stefenelli is a passionate businesswoman committed to “doing good while doing well.” A dedicated environmentalist, she lives by a “zero waste” philosophy that inspires businesses and individuals to make a difference by reducing the waste we send to local landfills. Nicole currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, Science World, the National Association of Information Destruction (NAID), and the Waste Management Division of the BC Trucking Association. She previously served on the Board of the Recycling Council of BC. Nicole is regularly sought on radio talk programs for recycling expert commentary. She also regularly presents workshops and seminars to associations, organizations, universities and colleges across the Lower Mainland.
For more information, visit www.urbanimpact.com or contact 403.214.7600.
Residential phone directories, or White Pages, are now available only upon request in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, the Ottawa-Gatineau area and Quebec City. Yellow Pages Group (YPG), Canada’s largest print, online and mobile directory provider, launched this initiative in accordance with changing user habits around the way people look for residential numbers.
“An increasing number of Canadians, particularly in urban areas, use our online and mobile resources YellowPages.ca™ and Canada411.ca™ to find residential phone numbers,” said Marc P. Tellier, President and CEO of Yellow Pages Group. “Our priority with the residential directory is to make listings available to all users in the format of their choice. All who wish to receive a printed directory can request one while those who prefer to use our online or mobile resources will be equally supported.”
In 2005, YPG implemented a 24-month distribution cycle of the residential directory in select Canadian cities, with residents having to request a directory during non-distribution years. The resulting demand for the residential directory averaged below 1% while searches for personal phone numbers on YPG online properties have almost doubled since the program’s inception. “The results of our 24-month initiative clearly indicate that large urban centres are ready for a residential directory by request only program,” continued Tellier.
The distribution by request of the residential directory will result in a reduction of paper consumption, decreasing residential directory distribution by over 5 million copies per year across Canada.
In the seven markets no longer automatically receiving their residential directory, distribution of the Yellow Pages directory will continue on an annual basis. The Yellow Pages directory is used to find a business by category or by name and features local environmental information and government resources. It remains used by about half of Canadians each month. In most other markets, the residential listings are contained as a section within the Yellow Pages directory and will continue to be included.
It is not surprising that Yellow Pages would continue publication of their business directory, since it is a primary source of advertising revenue. However, they have at least taken the first step in reducing these directories, by offering a Custom Delivery Program, allowing users to opt-out of their delivery.
Residents in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, the Ottawa-Gatineau area and Quebec City can obtain a copy of the residential directory or opt-out of receiving their Yellow Pages business directory by calling YPG Distribution Services at 1-800-268-5637 or visiting http://ypg.com/delivery.
Sitting on Broken Glass
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Calgary region cooperates with industry to find a home for recycled glass.
What many people do not know about recycling is that it is by and large a market-driven process. Many of the products and materials that we use in our daily lives can be recycled with the proper equipment, but there must be a company willing to purchase and process the material, which means the endeavour needs to be profitable. This is why you will often find differences from town to town in terms of what materials are accepted – it is not a matter of whether or not a product can be recycled, but whether a local processor sees market value in the reused material, taking the costs of processing into account.
Since recycling is market-driven, it is vulnerable to economic ups and downs, and the recent economic downturn of the past couple of years has caused some downturns in recycling as well. In particular, the demand for recycled glass has decreased, since some common outputs for recycled glass are insulation and construction materials. Thus, a slowdown in housing construction means less demand for recycled glass. But as waste glass processors will tell you, the market is not the ultimate issue with municipal glass recycling.
Unfortunately, household recycled glass tends to be highly contaminated (either by food products that came in the glass containers or from non-glass materials mixed in with the glass), making it particularly expensive for companies to process. With the already high costs of processing and transportation, glass processors in the Calgary region simply cannot absorb the added expense of cleaning, sorting, and transporting the material. These high costs, combined with tight economic times and the fact that municipal glass volumes are relatively low compared to other waste streams, means that local municipalities are unable to sell the material to the recycling market. Instead, they are forced to stockpile their glass until they can find an equitable alternative.
In late 2009, a group of municipalities in the Calgary area met to discuss a solution to the ever-growing piles of glass. The meeting included representatives from the City of Calgary, Rocky View County, the Town of Okotoks, and the City of Airdrie, and also included representatives from Alberta Environment and Thurber Engineering. The municipalities estimated that combined they collected about 4200 metric tonnes of recycled glass in 2009, with the large majority coming from the City of Calgary. Considering Calgary’s growing recycling recovery rate, this amount could easily triple in the next few years.
This group held a second meeting in early 2010 to meet with two local aggregate handling companies, Copperstone Crushing and Lafarge Canada. These companies suggested that the glass be used in construction material, known as “glassphalt”, which replaces 5% to 40% of the rock and/or sand aggregate in asphalt with crushed glass. Discussions are still underway, but they have jointly submitted a proposal to the City of Calgary to start testing the crushing, cleaning, and glassphalt blending process.
The group is also collaborating with Vitreous Glass Inc. in Airdrie, a company that manufactures high-quality recycled glass material from Alberta bottle depots. This process, despite high efficiency, generates some waste glass residue that is of lower quality and has no place to go but the landfill. Therefore, they will welcome the opportunity to contribute their waste glass to the glassphalt initiative, as well as consider providing assistance in research and development for this program.
Regional cooperation is essential in solving these types of challenges. On their own, smaller municipalities would have a harder time finding processors to take their waste glass due to small volumes compared to the City of Calgary. With a regional glass strategy, however, municipalities can ensure that the value of their recycled glass is returned to the community through road construction materials, rather than paying to leave the glass in a landfill, where it would sit unused for thousands of years.
Clearly, cooperation between government and industry is also essential in solving municipal recycling challenges. The desire to reuse materials rather than extract raw materials is widespread, but this requires constant cooperation and communication between municipal waste collectors, processors, and manufacturers to be successful. Faced with such a challenge, the Calgary region has embraced innovation and collaboration in working towards a regional glass strategy.
Submitted by M. Dietrich, Rocky View County,
with special thanks to the Lafarge Canada Inc., Copperstone Crushing Ltd.,
Vitreous Glass Inc., Thurber Environmental Ltd., The City of Airdrie, The City of Calgary,
The Town of Okotoks and Mr. Dave Whitfield - Alberta Environment
Meet the RCA’s Summer Ambassadors
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Once again the RCA’s Summer Ambassadors will be out and about across the province, delivering a range of environmental projects. After learning about tire, paint, electronic, used oil (and associated products), and beverage container recycling programs in Alberta, these Recycling Ambassadors hit the ground running in early May. Watch for this great group of students in your travels this summer, however in the meantime, here’s a chance for you to get to know them a little better.
Amanda is in her fourth year at the University of Victoria, studying Human Geography and Environmental Studies. Originally from Vancouver, BC, she moved to Victoria to attend school. As a West-coaster, she loves hiking, camping, cycling, surfing, soccer and running – basically anything outside. She moved to Calgary to become part of the RCA Ambassador Team as she is extremely passionate about recycling initiatives, waste reduction and altogether human behaviour that has the potential to create positive changes on local and global scales. She also wanted to explore Alberta and why not explore a new place while talking with people about something she loves. She is working this position as part of the Geography Co-op program at UVic. She recently completed a work term with the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada. As she is looking into graduate school options, she feels this position will be key in her understanding of the recycling industry. She is very excited and honoured to be part of the Recycling Ambassador 2010 Team.
Chris comes from a farming background where his family lives near Innisfail. He is working on a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science program, transferring to the University of Alberta in the fall. He is very passionate about recycling and the environment, which lead to his applying for this position. Coming from a farm, conserving resources and recycling are second nature to him. When moving to the City of Red Deer a few years ago, he realized that not everyone lives by that same philosophy. The past few years he has worked toward promoting recycling at Red Deer College and saw the Ambassador position as a great opportunity to continue this goal across all of Alberta.
Emma is a fourth year Environmental Conservation Sciences student, majoring in Human Dimensions of Environmental Management at the University of Alberta. She finds herself fascinated with the human relationship with the environment, and the environmental impacts of everyday things (especially the efficient production of local, healthy food). She believes industry and government have the responsibility and power to make environmentally sound decisions on behalf of the province and individuals have the responsibility to act consciously on behalf of our environment and demand that industry and government do as well. As a Recycling Ambassador, she feels so excited and privileged to find herself in the middle of this spectrum with the opportunity to learn from both sides and promote the important message of recycling.
Kaitlyn is very excited to have the opportunity to work as a Recycling Ambassador this summer. She grew up in the small village of Boyle, where she enjoyed camping and boating with her family. After graduating from high school, she moved to Edmonton to attend the University of Alberta. She is completing a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Biology with a minor in Economics. Her science courses focus on Ecology and her minor courses focus on Cost Benefit Analysis. With this degree, Kaitlyn hopes to pursue a future career in sustainable development.
Sarah is a third year student at the University of Victoria, working toward a major in Geography and a minor in Environmental Studies. She was born and raised in Calgary, but spent most of her summers in southern Alberta, where her family has a cabin. It was there that her passion for the environment really set sail, as she was always playing in nature, building forts, exploring, collecting bugs and constantly learning about different aspects of the environment. She is very excited to be working with the RCA this summer, as she not only gets to be part of educating and raising awareness about recycling in Alberta, but also gets to further explore this beautiful province. From being exposed to nature and conservation as a child, to spreading the word and further learning about protecting our environment through recycling by working with the RCA, Alberta has been a wonderful canvas for her environmental education. Sarah will be continuing her studies abroad next year in Brussels, Belgium, where she hopes to gain a broader perspective on recycling and conservation solutions.
Shelby was born and raised in Strathmore, Alberta, in a home with an ever-present focus on the importance of recycling. Her mother used to tell her that littering was as bad as stealing, so it’s not surprising that she grew up leaning toward an environmentally-focused career path. She is currently finishing her undergraduate studies at the University of Alberta Augustana Campus in Camrose, Alberta. Her major is Environmental Science and her minor is English. Shelby’s eventual goal is to work in environmental consulting and impact assessment, however at present she just wants to gain experience in as many different areas of environmental studies as possible. She was not completely familiar with the various recycling programs in Alberta before working with the RCA, but now that she has been able to learn so much about waste reduction and management, she is grateful for the opportunity to be a Recycling Ambassador and is looking forward to the rest of the summer.
Scott is returning for his second year as a Recycling Ambassador for the Recycling Council of Alberta. He spent last year as the Office Ambassador at Alberta Recycling and completed several projects including a paint program survey, electronics program audits and tire program research. Scott recently graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Conservation Sciences, majoring in Environmental Economics and Policy. His plan is to return to school in the fall in pursuit of a Masters degree in Natural Resource Economics. Scott is an avid outdoorsman, who loves camping and hiking.
Tristan is a born and raised Edmontonian. One could describe his broad interests as a desire to be a responsible global citizen. Particularly he is interested in people and their relationship with our physical world – which lead him to become a Recycling Ambassador. Tristan is studying Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta and enjoys learning, particularly languages (although he claims he’s not multilingual… yet). He looks forward to working with everyone this summer.
Waste Reduction Week 2010
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Waste Reduction Week, October 18 – 24, is an opportunity for Albertans to showcase their waste reduction initiatives.
From waste audits and litterless lunches to recycling presentations and waste challenges and contests, Albertans are doing their part to share to their waste reduction strategies. The RCA will be partnering with the Business Link again this year to spread the Green Business message to small businesses through a lunch and learn presentation. Habitat for Humanity and the RCA will be doing a Customer Appreciation/Waste Reduction Week radio remote at the new southside ReStore location. Municipalities will be challenged to proclaim Waste Reduction Week and Grade 4 classes all across Alberta will be invited to participate in the successful Triple StaRs Waste Reduction Challenge to win some great prizes. There will be media events, cool presentations and awareness campaigns.
All over Alberta, the Waste Reduction Week excitement is building. If you or your organization is planning an exciting event that you’d like us to attend or promote, let us know as soon as possible. Our schedules fill quickly, so don’t be disappointed. If you are looking for help with an event, need some promotional posters or want to get involved but don’t know how, contact
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and the RCA will be happy to help you out!
Thank you to our provincial sponsors, without whom Waste Reduction Week 2010 in Alberta would not be possible. Check them out at www.recycle.ab.ca/wrw .
Show your Waste Reduction Week spirit. Get Involved. Alberta is Too Good To Waste!
The Masdar Initiative – Re-Energizing the World
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Mr. Frank Wouters, Chief Executive of Masdar Power, presented at GLOBE 2010 in Vancouver, recounting how a start up venture in oil-rich Abu Dhabi plans to become a world player in renewable energy. In the four years since it was founded, The Masdar Initiative has become one of the world’s highest profile projects in renewable energy and has super-charged the search for solutions to some of mankind’s most pressing issues: energy security, climate change and the development of human expertise in sustainability.
The company developed a 10-year investment strategy in renewable energy, with a particular focus on wind and solar.
The Masdar Initiative driven by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala), a global cooperative platform to enable Abu Dhabi to lever its substantial resources and experience in global energy markets into the technologies of the future.
One key objective of Masdar is to position Abu Dhabi as a world-class research and development hub for new energy technologies, effectively balancing its strong position in an evolving world energy market. Masdar plans to conclude a number of venture capital deals this year and will expand its solar power and wind energy business over the next decade.
RCA conference attendees will have the first-hand opportunity to learn more about Masdar City from one of our keynote presenters, Jennifer Koole, who has spent the last 2 years working on the project in Abu Dhabi.
Source: Globe-Net
*** Breaking News ***
Merlin Accepting Agricultural Plastics
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Merlin Plastics is now accepting presorted, clean agricultural plastics from a number of Alberta jurisdictions at its plant near Bassano, Alberta.
Clean film and twine products are acceptable, including:
- Silage film (bale wrap & cover)
- Grain bag film
- Greenhouse film
- Geo-membrane liner
- PP twine
Designated agricultural plastics collection sites are recommended to operate a supervised site in a secure area to minimize contamination.
Film needs to be densified into round or square bales, while twine should be packaged in 1 cubic meter PE bags or woven PP tote bags. All materials require inspection by Merlin prior to shipping. Collectors are responsible for shipping, but Merlin will assist with transportation coordination.
For further information and to arrange inspection and shipping, organizations operating supervised agricultural plastics collection and processing sites should contact:
Kevin Kernaghan
Merlin Plastics
Office: 403-259-6637 ext. 101
Cell: 403-617-8171
Email:
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