2000 Saskatchewan Waste Minimization Awards

The Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council and Tetra Pak Canada celebrated Waste Reduction Week (Oct 15-21) by sponsoring Saskatchewan’s fifth Waste Minimization Awards ceremony on October 17th in Swift Current. The Awards recognize waste minimization leadership by individuals, non-profit organizations, municipalities, corporations and through partnerships. The Honourable Buckley Belanger, Minister of Environment & Resource Management, was on hand to present the awards (see photos at left).

The Individual award was presented to Ray Nolin of North Battleford. Ray is the Program Coordinator at the Battlefords Envirotech Industries, a division of the Battleford Trade & Education Centre. Ray has been both personally and professionally interested in waste reduction for many years. He has developed a recycling education program for the Battleford schools. He is involved in the West Yellowhead Waste Resource Authority, which is developing a waste management region in the North Battleford/Maidstone area. Ray is a member of "The Stewards of Jackfish and Murray Lakes", of the Watershed Board for the RM of Meota (pronounced meeohta), and other environmentally concerned community groups.

The Non-profit organization award went to Kipling Industries. Kipling Industries started as a SARCAN depot in 1989 and has expanded to include a used clothing, books and goods store, and a recycling operation. Each year, they recycle 100 tonnes of cardboard and paper and about 10 tonnes of glass, plastic and tin from Kipling and surrounding communities. Kipling Industries is always looking for new ways to increase waste reduction and recycling.

The Municipal award was presented to the Town of Wilkie. Wilkie has been recycling newsprint, cardboard, mixed paper and tin cans since 1995. Wilkie’s composting program was one of the first in the province and has been going since the early 90s. The town picks up yard materials door to door three times a year and allows residents to drop off materials the rest of the time. Finished compost is used for town projects and given away to residents. In 2000, Wilkie adopted a tag-a-bag program for residential and commercial waste, closed their landfill and established a transfer station. The town estimates that these programs have reduced their waste by more than fifty percent!

The Corporate Leadership award for 2000 goes to XPotential Products in Regina. XPotential manufactures Impact-Posts and Impact-Curbs from 100% recycled materials - a combination of automobile shredder residue and post-consumer and post-industrial plastics. XPotential diverts about 26 million pounds of waste from landfills every year. Their process can use off-spec and mixed plastics, giving a home to some very difficult to recycle materials. In addition, their products provide a durable alternative to wood and will reduce pressure on our forests. At the end of their long lives, XPotential’s products can be recycled again.

The Partnerships award recognizes the necessity for all of us to work together to achieve our waste reduction goals. This year’s award went to the City of Yorkton and the Yorkton Branch of the Saskatchewan Abilities Council. For the past several years, these two entities have cooperated to offer the citizens of Yorkton and area a recycling program. In 2000, more than 877,000 pounds of cardboard, 845,000 pounds of other paper, and 32,000 pounds of tin, glass and plastic were recycled. Yorkton citizens have also benefited from the recent additions of used oil materials collection facilities and a computer recycling program.

All of the winners demonstrate a strong commitment to waste minimization and have made our province a better place to live. We congratulate them!