2008 Rs of Excellence Award Winners

Cadillac Fairview is showing progressive property management through its waste reduction policies in retail shopping malls in Alberta. This award recognizes Cadillac Fairview, as well as two of its Calgary properties.

Chinook Centre has had a successful Waste Reduction and Recycling Program for tenants, shoppers and staff since 1994, being one of the first malls to embark on this program in Alberta. Three waste and recycling collection depots are strategically located around the mall to make it convenient for tenants and cleaning staff to recycle cardboard, paper, glass, cans and plastic, wood skids, kegs and grease materials. Chinook Centre also hosts a City of Calgary public recycling depot. They currently achieve a diversion rate of over 50%, and have targets to increase this.

3Rs practices have also spanned into tenant communications, Construction & Demolition projects on-site, and environmental
purchasing and procurement.

Market Mall provides four waste and recycling collection areas within the mall for tenants and contracted cleaning staff to deposit their garbage and recyclable materials. The food court is equipped with beverage container recycling and Market Mall will be installing 15 new recycling containers in the common areas over the next two months for shoppers to use. Market Mall also hosts a City of Calgary public recycling depot.

The characterization, quantification and reduction of waste have become well recognized as important components of business and are increasingly addressed through operational programs.

Additionally, Market Mall’s environmental purchasing guides their selection and purchase of environmentally sound products and equipment. Market Mall is also managing the waste generated from construction and demolition projects on-site by working together with tenants and their contractors.

Brewster tours operates the Columbia Icefield Glacier Experience. Since 1898, over 10 million visitors from around the world have stood on the mass of ice and felt a sense of wonder and exhilaration.

A recycling program includes: paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, tin and beverage containers, and tracks volumes of materials. Brewster also recycles used oil, batteries and tires.

Inefficient water fixtures and antiquated appliances have been replaced with spring-loaded taps, low-flush toilets, and ‘water miser’ shower heads. Greywater that goes down sink and shower drains in the Icefield Centre is filtered, and then recycled through low-volume toilets before being piped to the state of the art waste-water treatment plant. Thus, all water is used twice, drastically reducing fresh-water consumption.

Electricity is generated on-site, with a modern and efficient three diesel generator power plant, which runs the minimum sized generator(s) for the power required at any particular time. This saves more than 50% of the green house gas that would be produced by a conventional and less costly system.
Other stewardship efforts include reducing negative impacts on fragile alpine vegetation.

Brewster consistently demonstrates commitment to the environment in this dynamic and fragile ecosystem. It is these efforts, financial commitment and the positive attitude towards environmental stewardship that makes them exemplary Jasper National Park citizens.

Albian Sands Energy’s Muskeg River Mine proactively manages all types of waste generated by its operations, from the mine to the employees’ lunchroom. Each waste material is analyzed to assess its potential to be reduced, reused or recycled. No item is considered too large or too small to be diverted.

In 2007, the Muskeg River Mine recycled a total of 62% of all waste generated on-site (which is an increase from 56% in 2006 and 35% in 2005). The Muskeg River Mine is proud to report that 98% of all hazardous waste generated on site is shipped off-site for recycling instead of disposal in a landfill or destruction by incinerator.

A waste audit in 2007 determined there is a potential to divert an additional 50% – 60% of waste material, mostly wood, from the landfill and initiatives are in place for this material to be fully diverted within the next two years.

Eye glasses and hearing aids are collected by the medical centre and donated to charities in town. Organics collected from the lunchrooms and cafeteria are composted on-site in either an outdoor static pile or an office vermicomposter.

Waste management for the Muskeg River Mine does not stop at the mine site. Employees take their initiatives to the community through programs including workshops on backyard composting, and school recycling programs. Team members are also actively involved in the Ft. McMurray Environment Week activities and Waste Reduction Week.

In the past five years, Rocky View has used a progressive approach to rural recycling. Putting economies of scale aside, the staff at Rocky View, with the support of their Council, have initiated and implemented several new and creative programs in the remote and less densely populated areas of their municipality.

Rocky View recognizes the importance of raising awareness for better waste management practices and providing the means to do so for its residents. Through the programs that have been introduced, tonnes of materials have been diverted from landfill, alternatives to burning and burying waste have been made available, and a population sector that is often ignored when it comes to municipal programming has been served.

Some of the highlights of the MD of Rocky View’s program:

• Hawksley the Hawk mascot and Keeping the View in Rocky View slogan
• Chuck Wagons mini recycling depots
• Agricultural plastics, barbed wire and pesticide container roundups
• Partnerships with neighbouring municipalities

Frito-Lay’s manufacturing plant in Lethbridge has implemented environmental processes and practice improvements over the past five years that have significantly reduced the amount of waste being landfilled and consumption of natural resources.

Through innovative thinking, a commitment to continued conservation, and implementation of processes from a dedicated Green Team, the plant reduced waste through the following initiatives:

• Installation of a centrifuge in 2005 reduced the amount of solids being sent to municipal water treatment by 80%; instead diverting the material as animal feed.
• Reuse of cardboard boxes for product transportation has increased from 2 trips per box to an average of 8–10 trips per box.
• Collection of all unusable cardboard from Frito-Lay operations in Western Canada for recycling.
• Placement of labeled waste containers throughout the plant to segregate individual material streams.
• Collection of spent fluorescent light bulbs for recycling.

Because of the Lethbridge plant’s commitment to pollution prevention, Frito-Lay has selected the facility as the first in Canada to lead its zero landfill initiative. It is estimated that less than 5% of the plant’s waste, primarily packaging and cafeteria waste, is currently landfilled. Innovative technologies will be introduced in the next few months to pursue this final 5%, with the ultimate goal of zero waste.

The plant has also reduced natural resource consumption – water use and fuel use have each been reduced by 23% over the past 5 years despite a 4% increase in production. The facility also uses waste heat from the boiler exhaust to heat the building and water used for sanitation.

Judy is a planner by profession and spent the early part of her career with Alberta Environment managing the Transportation Utility Corridor in Edmonton.

In (about 1990) she joined the Recycling Branch to manage the municipal group including the administration of the Resource Recovery Grant Program.

Among the achievements that Judy was directly responsible for are:

• Managing the Resource Recovery Grant Program during a period when much of the municipal recycling infrastructure was established.
• Development of a Province-wide training program for recycling program staff
• Supporting the development of Northern CARE and the introduction of recycling coordinators in Northern Alberta
• Development of the Compost Technology Centre at Olds College

More recently she has been heavily involved with the development of the provincial Construction and Demolition Waste Reduction Advisory Committee and the ongoing activities that came out of that initiative.

Over the years she has developed and administered countless consulting contracts and agreements and has gained a great deal of respect for her practicality and fairness but also recognizing her expectation of performance.

Judy is well known to the Recycling Council of Alberta. She served as Alberta Environment Liaison to the Board for a number of years and was always a supporter of the Council’s work.

If Alberta Environment had a Senate, Judy would have been a member.  She could always provide that ‘sober second thought’ that helped keep things grounded, and her counsel has always been much respected and appreciated.