Thank you for supporting the 43nd Annual RCBC Conference - Summit of Solutions. We thank all of our delegates, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors. You all made #RCBC2017 an extraordinary event!
In order to continue to provide progressive programming at our annual conference, we would appreciate your feedback from this year's event. Below you will find 2 survey links to provide your input and feedback. The surveys should take about 10-15 minutes to complete. General Conference Survey Speaker Presentation Survey Speaker presentations will be available by Wendesday June 28, 2017 on the RCBC Conference website. Thank you for your time and support. Look forward to seeing you for #RCBC2018!
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Registration
The conference registration desk in the Emerald Foyer opens on Wednesday, June 21st at 9:00 am and will remain open during presentation hours for the duration of the event. The registration desk is information central, so feel free to pop by with any questions you may have. Our staff would be more than happy to help you. Pick up your delegate name badge here when you arrive. Bring your name badge at all conference events. This is your ticket for the Gala Dinner and also if you have signed up for the Friday Take Home Lunch. At the back of your name tag is quick-guide schedule and your complimentary drink tickets. All conference sessions will be in Emerald Ballroom AB. The trade show is located in Emerald Ballroom C and the Foyer. #RCBC2017 is going electronic again this year! Get your conference information through these platforms:
Create a profile on the RCBC Conference Event App and connect with others easily. Venue RemindersAddress: 4090 Whistler Way, Whistler, BC V0N 1B4 Hotel Check-In Check-in at the Westin Resort Whistler is 4:00 p.m. The hotel can provide you with checked luggage service, freeing you to explore the area until your room is available. Parking at the Westin Resort Whistler Underground self-parking at the Westin Resort Whistler is currently available for $30.00 per night and Valet parking is $34.00 per night. Parking fees are subject to change. For additional parking options in Whistler, check this page. Meeting Room Internet Access Password: RCBC2017 Friday Lunch If you plan on leaving early on Friday, June 23rd and would like a take-home lunch, please let us know. We can have your lunch ready earlier in the morning. Trade Show Network at the trade show! Located in Emerald Ballroom C, the Wednesday and Thursday receptions and session breaks will all take place here. It will open at 12:00 p.m on Wednesday, June 21st and will remain open for the duration of the event. Follow Us Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for conference updates before, after, and during the event. #RCBC2017 is the official conference hash tag - follow it for all latest conference happenings. Read up the Circular Blog From our Factsheet Series to prime you on the sessions and Conference Reminders, visit the The Circular Blog the #RBC2017 website. Conference App Be sure to download the Conference App! Find speaker, exhibitor and sponsor bios, as well as a detailed conference schedule...all at your fingertips. Create a user profile to connect with other delegates! Getting There There are various ways you can get to Whistler from the Lower Mainland: Bus Pacific Coach Lines 1-800-661-1725 Perimeter Whistler Express 1-877-317-7788 Greyhound Coach Lines 1-800-661-8747 Train Whistler Mountaineer 1-888-687-7245 Driving HWY 99 Road Updates 1-604-775-1100 Weather It looks like the weather will be clearing just in time for some beautiful days in Whistler. For the latest forecast info click here. Activities If you’ve got some spare time in Whistler, take full advantage of all that’s available. Activities, dining, and adventures abound – find yours. Wednesday Dinner There’s no dinner provided on Wednesday evening, but not to worry – Whistler has plenty to offer no matter what you’re craving. Check out dining options in Whistler. Thank you for your support of our event. We look forward to seeing you in Whistler! In BC, Compostable Organics make up the largest component (up to 40%) of the waste stream.
The following materials can be diverted from the waste stream through composting: food waste, animal bedding, biosolids, brewery and winery wastes, domestic septic tank sludge, fish and hatchery wastes, manure, milk processing waste and whey, poultry carcasses, red-meat waste, untreated wood residuals and yard waste, according to BC Organic Matter Recycling Regulation (OMRR). Composting facilities in BC are now required to have a permit or operate under an approved Waste Management Plan issued by local government if they process food waste or biosolids and produce over 5000 tonnes of compost per year. Smaller facilities will not require a permit but still must comply with OMRR. The permitting process is to increase transparency and put site-specific requirements in place to manage potential issues such as environmental impacts and odor issues. There is no provincial ban for organic waste in BC; organic waste is managed at the regional district level. However, the Ministry of Environment has a target of 75% of the province’s population being covered by organic waste disposal restrictions by 2020. Organics bans have been implemented in three regional districts (covering approximately 64% of BC’s population); the primary focus is food scraps and yard trimmings. There is also a growing list of communities with curbside collection of food scraps. Processing Organics in BC Compost facilities in BC range from; simple open-windrow operations carried out at landfills, to covered fully aerated static piles, to enclosed forced aerated composting systems, to facilities that use anaerobic digestion technology to produce energy from organic feedstocks. The City of Surrey is expected to open a biofuel facility in 2017, which will be the largest of its kind in North America. This facility will provide renewable natural gas for its waste collection vehicles and for heating and cooling Surrey’s City Centre as well as produce a high-end compost. Onsite or locally based composting is an important part of organic waste diversion for yard trimmings and food scraps and provides additional benefits. Benefits include decreasing transport to regional facilities and easily accessible compost to enrich local landscapes and gardens. The University of British Columbia is an example of a closed-loop system where food scraps are collected at campus buildings and private residences, and are deposited at an in-vessel composting facility on campus. Controlled accelerated composting occurs in an enclosed system that eliminates the risk of odors and pests. In many other communities, backyard compost bins are provided at reduced rates. Organizations such as the Compost Education Centre in Victoria and City Farmer in Vancouver provide educational programs and resources to get individuals and organizations started, engaged, and self-sufficient with composting. Composting Challenges Contaminants in organics can result in more materials going to garbage. Small contaminants that break down or are not screened out contaminate finished compost, which can eventually release materials into the environment. Plastic bags, disposable coffee cups, glass, pet waste, and fruit stickers are common contaminants. Common contamination rates of 2-3% may seem low, however rates are weight-based and organics are relatively heavy compared to contaminates, which are often plastics. Plastics marked compostable or biodegradable such as bags, cups or cutlery can cause confusion. Most compost facilities cannot process these materials and consider them contaminants because they lower the value of compost. Public complaints relating to odors can halt compost operations or prevent new facilities from opening. Another challenge, particularly in BC, is facilities in close proximity to residential land, particularly in mountainous areas where habitable land is limited. Food Waste – A Big Opportunity The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that one-third of all food produced for human consumption in the world is wasted. Producing wasted food: Occupies almost 1.4 billion hectares of land; greater than the total land areas of Canada, India and Sudan combined Produces a carbon footprint of 3.3 Gtonnes of CO2; third top emitter after USA and China Uses about 250 cubic kilometers of surface and groundwater; equivalent to over 10X the volume Okanagan Lake In Canada, much of the food waste occurs from consumers buying too much and throwing away what they do not eat. According to the National Zero Waste Council, 47% of food waste comes from consumers, with the remaining bulk of the waste occurring in processing (20%), retail stores (10%), farms (10%), hotels and restaurants (9%). Initiatives are developing to reduce food waste – organizations such as Food Stash Foundation and Quest Food Exchange accept food from grocers and restaurants that would otherwise be disposed, and instead distribute it to those in need. Recent BC Ministry of Environment Waste Composition Studies found that approximately 25% of residential waste discarded is avoidable food waste. For residents with curbside food scraps collection programs, 50% of organics were avoidable food waste. This demonstrates significant opportunities to reduce household food waste which can save resources and improve sustainability. Learn more about organics waste and diversion at the 43rd annual RCBC Zero Waste Conference held in Whistler, BC from June 21-23, 2017, as industry professionals from the government, non-profit, and business sectors discuss developing a provincial collaboration. Register today at www.rcbcconference.ca. Download the PDF Version Illegal Dumping is a universal problem faced by communities everywhere. By sharing practices and principles that have met with positive results, we’re hoping to create a pool of resources for greater effect on combating illegal dumping here in BC.
This past spring, RCBC released a survey on Illegal Dumping and here is a summary of the results and we can all use as a primer for Session 1 of #RCBC2017 on Illegal Dumping. Respondents: Local Governments (n=18) General Information
Organizations Attending #RCBC2017
Abbotsford Community Services ABC Recycling Accent Wire Aritzia Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers AtSource Recycling Systems BC Bottle and Recycling Depot Association BC Ministry of Environment BC Product Stewardship Council Bert Monesmith and Associates Blue Planet Recycling Busch Systems International Call2Recycle Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. Canada’s National Brewers Canadian Battery Association Canadian Plastics Industry Association Capital Regional District Carey McIver & Associates Ltd. Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society Cariboo Regional District Cascades Recovery+ CasCell Trading Group Inc. CESA/Panasonic Canada Inc. City of Burnaby City of Coquitlam City of Guelph City of Kamloops City of Nanaimo City of New Westminster City of Port Coquitlam City of Port Moody City of Victoria City of Williams Lake CKF Inc. Coast Mountain Bus Company Coast Waste Management Assoc Comox Valley Regional District Corporation of Delta Cowichan Valley Regional District Craig Foster and Associates Dell Inc. Dillon Consulting Limited District of Mackenzie District of North Vancouver District of West Vancouver Dream Rider Productions Dyson Canada Eco Entreprises Quebec EcoSafe (Plastics Solutions Canada Inc.) ECOTAINER Balers & Containers eCycle Solutions Inc Emterra Environmental Encorp Pacific (Canada) Environment & Climate Change Canada EPRA EPRA BC Ermeltek International Services Inc Evergreen Office Spaces Ltd. Fluent Motion Inc. Geep Ginove Inc. Glacier Media Group Green by Nature Health Products Stewardship Association IMR London Drugs Limited Major Appliance Recycling Roundtable Maura Walker & Asscociates Merlin Plastics Metlakatla First Nation Metro Vancouver Ministry of Environment Nanaimo Recycling Exchange New West Gypsum Recycling North Coast Regional District Northern Environmental Action Team Nova Products OES OPEI Peace River Regional District Plexus Recycling Technologies Powell River Regional District Product Care Reclay StewardEdge Recycle Systems RecycleBC Recycling Council of Alberta Recycling Council of Alberta & ARMA Recycling Council of BC Recycling Product News Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako Regional District of Central Kootenay Regional District of Fraser-Fort George Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine Regional District of Nanaimo Rehrig Pacific Company Republic Services Inc. Resort Municipality of Whistler Retail Council of Canada Richmond Steel Recycling Ridge Meadows Recycling Society Rollins Machinery Ronin8 Technologies Ltd Salvation Army Save-On-Foods Shaw Industries Inc Shift Recycling Sierra International Machinery Sierra Waste Services Ltd. Squamish-Lillooet Regional District St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District Stericycle, ULC Sunshine Coast Regional District TELUS Terrapure Environmental Tetra Tech Canada The Kidney Foundation of Canada BC & Yukon Branch Thompson Rivers University Thompson-Nicola Regional District Tire Stewardship BC Tomra Canada Toter Inc. Township of Langley Universal Handling Equipment Urban Impact Recycling Vitreous Glass Inc Waste Management Association of BC Waste Management of Canada Waste Solutions Canada WCS Waste Control Services Inc. West Coast Reduction Willowbrook Recycling Inc. Why has textile recycling become a major point of discussion within the recycling community?
A waste analysis conducted in Metro Vancouver in 2015 revealed that the average resident tosses about 42 lbs of textile waste annually and textiles make up 5% or 30,000 tonnes of waste at Metro Vancouver disposal facilities. Where is this textile waste coming from? North Americans on average are buying five times as much clothing when compared to 25 years ago. This could be in direct relation to the concept of “fast fashion.” Today’s consumer wants to keep up with the latest trends. This demand has led to the creation of cheap clothing brands that release new items every couple of weeks. With changing trends and high demand, products tend to be of poor quality and manufactured with synthetic materials that are not made to last, making them disposable in nature. The 3 Pronged Approach to Textile Diversion Options for textile recycling are quite limited at this time. Most textile recycling programs use a 3 category sorting system; Rewear - gently used clothing is sold or given away for second hand use Repurpose - cut into rags and cleaning cloths for industry Recycle - material is turned into fibres and used as stuffing or insulation H&M H&M clothing stores have become one of the options for garment recycling. H&M launched a garment collecting initiative across the world in 2013, and since have collected more than 32,000 tonnes of clothing. That is more fabric than is needed to make 100 million t-shirts. Surplus items are donated to The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles & Apparel that looks at new technologies to recycle a greater percentage of clothing fibres into new clothes. Trans-Continental Textile Recycling Ltd (TCTR) This Surrey based company has been collecting unwearable clothing through bins set up across the Lower Mainland. Every day their sorting facility recycles nearly 60,000 lbs of textiles and converts 8,000 pounds of unwearable cotton into rags for industry. TCTR recycles a variety of knitted clothing including wool and acrylics. Non-wearable items are sorted into varying grades of quality, a “pulling” process is used to turn the clothing back into thread and the thread is then used to make new clothing and textiles. Markham, Ontario During Earth Week 2017, the City of Markham passed the first bylaw in North America, that bans textile waste from being placed into residential garbage. As an alternative, the City will be setting up donation containers in partnership with Diabetes Canada and Salvation Army stores, where residents can take their old and worn out clothing. Purses, belts, single socks, shoes, bedding, towels, and even pillows are also be accepted. Gently used items will be resold throughSalvation Army stores and worn out textiles will go to secondary markets for recycling. By the end of 2017 the City will have over 50 bins set up across the community along with 60 bins placed in multi-family units. They are hoping to divert 1,000 tonnes of textiles from the landfill. What are the barriers preventing a textile ban in the Lower Mainland? The Metro Vancouver Zero Waste Committee conducted a study to determine the feasibility of a textile ban, and what opportunities exist for textile recycling in the region. They found that most diversion in the region is in the form of re-use and down-cycling, where the material is made into rags and insulation. At this time, there are no locally available options for recycling textiles at the end of life. Due to the lack of recycling options, they found that a textile ban would not be feasible at this time. A ban may lead to charitable organizations being overrun with unwearable items that would leave them to incur the banned material surcharges when disposing of items at local landfills. Metro Vancouver is currently reviewing programs and policies in other jurisdictions, surveying local reuse markets including donation bins and thrift stores, conducting research into closed loop textile recycling technology, and observing loads delivered to transfer stations to determine which loads would incur a surcharge. Could Creating a Circular Economy for Textiles be the Solution? Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC) conducted a study to look at creating a circular economy in the fashion and textile sectors in Vancouver. A circular economy puts a focus on waste prevention through keeping materials infinitely in circulation. This would reduce the amount of textile waste heading to local landfills and reduce the amount of energy used and waste generated during the production process. A circular economy could lead to new local green jobs, create profit streams, and possibly allow companies to be more adaptable with changing overhead costs. Through their research, VEC devised 10 ways local governments can encourage a shift to a circular economy: Create EPR program for textiles Ban textile waste from landfill Encourage research and development for textile recycling Facilitate textile collection programs Encouraging the uptake of recycling infrastructure Educate the public about textile waste Implement pilot take back programs Educate designers about the lifecycle impacts of clothing Provide financial incentives and green credits for businesses that reduce waste and practice sustainability Enable local manufacturing and encourage regional material loops Mud Jeans Netherlands based company Mud Jeans uses a circular economy model for their business. Mud offers a leasing program for their jeans. Customers simply pay a membership fee, order the jeans, and when the jeans wear out, customers mail them back to Mud. The customer can order a new pair, while old jeans are either re-sold as a vintage pair or broken down into fibers and recycled into a new pair of jeans. Learn more about textile recycling at the 43rd annual RCBC Zero Waste Conference held in Whistler from June 21-23, 2017, as industry professionals from the government, non-profit, and business sectors discuss developing a provincial collaboration. Register today! You are invited to participate in a public consultation session to discuss the renewal of the product stewardship plan for major appliances in BC (2017 to 2021) prepared by the Major Appliance Recycling Roundtable (MARR). MARR is the approved product stewardship agency for end-of-life major household appliances in British Columbia. The session will be facilitated by MNP, a professional services firm that has been assisting MARR in drafting its plan and engaging stakeholders to gather their feedback. Stakeholder input from this session will be summarized and considered during the preparation of the final version of the plan to be submitted to the Ministry of Environment. A copy of the proposed stewardship plan is available for review here. If you would like to participate in a consultation session, please RSVP for one of the following public consultation dates: Date: June 16, 2017 Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 am Location: Webinar Click here to register. Date: June 21, 2017 Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon Location: Alpine A Room, Westin Whistler Resort (4090 Whistler Way, Whistler, BC V0N 1B4) Click here to register. In addition to participating in one of the consultation sessions, written comments will be accepted up to June 23, 2017. Comments may be submitted via email to consultations@marrbc.ca or by mail to: Major Appliance Recycling Roundtable 105 West 3rd Avenue Vancouver, BC V5Y 1E6 |
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