Parallel Path I: Innovative Approaches to Collecting Organics
Tuesday, April 27, 1:00 p.m. — 2:00 p.m.
It’s Time to Stop Trucking Around Water: City of Nelson’s Pre-Treatment Organics Program — Ginger Lester, City of Nelson & Alex Hayman, FoodCycler
Ginger Lester is the Communications Coordinator for the City of Nelson in British Columbia. In her role at the City, Ginger was integral in moving an employee-based organics waste diversion program out to the broader community as she managed and promoted two separate public “Food Waste Diversion” pilot-programs in 2020. She gained a new appreciation of the importance of eliminating food waste from the landfill and lowering GhGs in her community as she worked to change the food waste habits of her colleagues and pilot program participants. She continues to champion food waste diversion in Nelson and is part of the team working to roll-out a city-wide organics waste diversion program using a pre-treatment device to remove water content from food waste before it is collected curbside. Ginger spent over thirty years in the Northwest Territories prior to making her home in Nelson in 2006. She worked for the Government of the Northwest Territories for over ten years in administrative roles and has a B.A. in Sociology and Linguistics from the University of Victoria. She is also currently working on a Public Relations diploma. Ginger continues to promote zero food waste and other community-wide initiatives that encourage the reduction of Ghgs in Nelson.
Alex Hayman is Director of Strategic Solutions at FoodCycler where he is responsible for bringing food waste recycling solutions to new customer and markets. Currently he is focused on municipal solutions and partnerships to increase residential food waste diversion in Canada and the United States. Prior to joining FoodCycler, Alex worked in an IOT Start-up and as a Management Consultant. He holds a BSc. In Engineering Physics from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and an MBA from IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. He is passionate about environmental issues and is motivated by the significant greenhouse gas reduction that can be achieved simply by preventing food waste from going to the landfill.
Community Composting: The Benefits of a Diverse & Distributed System — Brenda Platt, Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Brenda Platt leads the Composting for Community Initiative at the national nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance, where she has worked more than 30 years promoting zero waste, non-burn solutions to trash. Her current focus is in advancing a locally based and a distributed infrastructure for composting that keeps resources and benefits circulating within local economies.
She has authored numerous reports including:
- Growing Local Fertility: A Guide to Community Composting
- Yes! In My Backyard: A Home Composting Guide for Local Government
- Guide to Composting Onsite at Schools
- Community Composting Done Right: A Guide to Best Management Practices
Brenda is nationally known for her work documenting the jobs through reuse, recycling, and composting. She is a trained composter and trains others. In 2017, the US Composting Council awarded her its H. Clark Gregory Award for outstanding service to the composting industry through grassroots efforts.
Regina’s Food and Yard Waste Pilot — Garrett Ruiters, City of Regina
Garret is a professional engineer who for the last 10 years has worked for the City of Regina, specializing in water and waste management. Garret is responsible for Regina’s Landfill Gas to Energy Facility which turns landfill gas into electricity, generating revenue and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He has played a key role in various water and waste initiatives such as the development of a source control strategy, a new capital investment model and levels of service. Garret is currently leading a pilot food and yard waste collection and processing service which will inform an eventual city-wide program.
In his time away from work, Garret enjoys staying active through a variety of sports and spending time with his family.