2006 Saskatchewan Waste Minimization Awards

The Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council sponsored Saskatchewan's eleventh Waste Minimization Awards ceremony on March 22, 2007 in Moose Jaw. The Awards recognize waste minimization leadership in non-profit organizations, municipalities, corporations and in partnerships.

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The Individual award recognizes those whose initiative and dedication have impacted waste reduction in their communities, workplaces or government. The 2006 award winner is Warren Steeves of Carlyle. Warren is one of the founders of the Red Coat Waste Resource Authority and has served as the Authority’s Chair since 2000. Under Warren’s leadership, dedication and persistence, this southeastern waste management region has grown from 16 municipalities and 6,000 people to 30 municipalities and 12,000 people. Warren has helped residents in the region make waste reduction part of their daily routines and they have responded well, recycling more than 600 tonnes a year on average. Warren is also involved in other aspects of community life and sits on several local boards and committees.

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The Non-profit Organization award recognizes the significant contribution that non-profit and grass roots groups make in helping us all reduce waste. The winner of the 2006 award is The Hometown Club in Shaunavon. This local service club has been involved in recycling paper and cardboard for the town for the last 11 years. Every week, the Club’s 20 members (average age 74) and about 20 more volunteers pick up cardboard from local businesses and paper from the post office, schools and the hospital. They also operate a drop-off depot for the public. The volunteers then sort and bale all the materials. The Club estimates that all this effort takes about 83 hours a week. Since the program began, the Hometown Club has recycled almost 2000 tonnes of paper and cardboard and saved the Town of Shaunavon nearly 16,000 cubic metres of landfill space. All the funds raised from this activity, and the many others the Hometown Club is involved in, are donated back to the community.

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The Municipality award was given to the Town of Kyle and the R.M. of Lacadena. The town and its R.M. started discussing waste diversion possibilities in 2003. They began collecting cardboard and paper in 2004 using modified horse trailers. They’ve expanded their service to some of the surrounding communities and now have 11 trailers collecting materials in the area. They’ve also added tin cans and milk jugs to their program. The communities have hired a local farmer to operate the system and it is working well. They continue to look for ways to improve their program and are considering purchasing additional equipment. In 2006, the joint venture sold 146,600 kg of paper and cardboard.

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The Partnerships award recognizes projects or programs which demonstrate the benefits of co-operation. The 2006 award was given to SaskTel and Computers for Schools . Computers For Schools is part of a national program that collects and repairs donated computer equipment and distributes it free of charge to K-12 schools and libraries. In Saskatchewan, about 75 SaskTel Telephone Pioneers volunteer hundreds of hours refurbishing and distributing computers at eight repair centres around the province. SaskTel provides most of the warehouse space and the transportation to collect, refurbish and deliver the computers. In total, this program has donated over 21,000 computers to Saskatchewan schools since 1994. In 2006, approximately 1,500 computers were distributed. Most of Saskatchewan’s 1,000 schools have received computers from the program.

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The Corporate Leadership award was presented to SaskPower and SaskPower International for their flyash operation. Flyash is the fine powder produced when coal is burned in coal-fired power plants. SaskPower uses special equipment to capture between 96 and 99.5 percent of the flyash particles that would normally escape from their smoke stacks. SaskPower International sells flyash from SaskPower's Shand and Boundary Dam Power Stations (BDPS). Each power station’s flyash has different qualities. BDPS flyash is primarily used as a component in ready-mixed concrete as a cement replacement, while Shand flyash is used for environmental remediation, oil well cementing, mine backfill and road base stabilization. In 2006, SaskPower International sold 94,030 tonnes of flyash. This operation saved an equal number of tonnes of greenhouse gases, primarily by replacing some of the energy-intensive components of cement manufacture. This is a great example of using wastes as resources.

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

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