Page 4 - July 1, 2019
P. 4
THE WEEKLY ANCHOR
THE WEEKLY ANCHOR
PAGE 4 MONDAY JULY 1, 2019 MONDAY JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 3
Recycling Society hosts Reductions Strategies workshop
EPR, single-use plastic alternatives, plastic bag fee and more discussed
by Cassie Kushniruk
With the federal government's recent
announcement to ban harmful single-use
plastics as early as 2021, the Edson and District
Recycling Society thought it was an opportune
time to educate community members on single-
use plastics and reduction strategies through a
double workshop on June 20.
During the afternoon, municipal councillors,
West Yellowhead Landfill Authority members,
and business owners were invited to the
Galloway Station Museum for the first
workshop of the day, followed by an evening
workshop directed to the general population.
Each workshop featured presentations from
organizations that have made efforts in
addressing the harmful impacts of single-use
items in their communities.
Recycling Council of Alberta (RCA)
Executive Director Christina Seidel began the
workshop by explaining the faults of single-use
plastics, “Plastic is the type of material that is
very durable; it lasts a long time and yet half of
the plastic that is produced in the world is During the Single-Use Plastic Items Reduction Strategies workshop hosted at the Galloway Station
designed to be used once and then thrown away. Museum on June 20, Waste Free Edmonton co-founder Sean Stepchuk informed attendants of some
If you look at the type of plastic [waste] we false solutions to the single-use plastic items issue. photo Cassie Kushniruk
have in places like beaches, 80% of that is
single-use plastic.” alternatives, such as items labelled plant-based,
In October of 2009, the Canadian Council of biodegradable, compostable, etc. “People think bags avoided with a 75% reduction rate in terms
of plastic bag use.
PASSPORT Ministers of the Environment (CCME) as long as we have something that's made of One attendant of the workshop expressed
approved a Canada-wide Action Plan for
PASSPORT PHOTOS & MORE PHOTOS & MORE Extended Producer Responsibility (CAP-EPR) something better [than plastic], that's going to concerns for implementing a plastic bag fee in
Professional Digital in order to create a 'harmonized approach' to be better for us,” he said. “If you throw [a Edson, as it gives people the option to continue
biodegradable/plant-based/compostable, etc.
Passport System EPR. cup] in your recycling …the people who are to use plastic bags. “There are many people that
will keep taking the easy way out and pay the
EPR is defined as a 'policy approach in which
Professional Digital photos ready a producer's responsibility for a product is sorting everything will think it looks like five or ten cents and never change their habits.”
in minutes...
Seidel-Wassenaar replied that plastic bag fees
Passport System extended to the post-consumer stage of a plastic, but it's not actually plastic so it's not have proven to make a difference in a variety of
recyclable.”
photos ready The Weekly Anchor product's life cycle'. “Traditionally, while a “The whole point behind this is… single use municipalities. “If you want to develop a
5040 3rd Avenue, Edson
customer is responsible for getting rid of waste,
in minutes 780-723-5787 under EPR the manufacturer would be items are just the tip of the iceberg and it's all program with industry alongside supporting
part of our disposable society,” Stepchuk said,
you, fees are the way to go,” she said.
while you wait... responsible for properly managing the item at encouraging attendants to focus on reducing Another attendant commented, “We have a
Seidel explained.
the end of its life,”
Under the terms of CAP-EPR, it is stated that
PASSPORT Canadian jurisdictions would work towards the rather than recycling. transient community here with the oil and gas
Owner of Earth's General Store, Michael
and everything else. Has there been a study
The Weekly Anchor PHOTOS & MORE development of EPR framework legislation Kalmanovich, took over the workshop to inform done on a town like this with the transient
attendants of his reduced waste grocery store in
population?”
Professional Digital
and/or regulations to allow for action on
Seidel replied that larger cities face a similar
5040 3rd Avenue, Edson Passport System identified priority products and materials. Edmonton. “What we do is we want to population with regards to multi-family
encourage people to not use plastics,”
photos ready
“Essentially every province in Canada except
DROP IN AND SEE! 780-723-5787 in minutes... for Alberta has done that,” Seidel said. “There Kalmanovich said. “You have to bring your own residences. “They have a really hard time
bags and containers.”
getting performance out of them,” she said.
are no regulated EPR programs in Alberta. This
As there is no service like this available in
is an area where we really fall short.” Edson, Kalmanovich encouraged attendants to “You have to have different types of programs
Sean Stepchuk, co-founder of Waste Free use their voice to lobby for less packaging and for the different parts of the population and you
also need to recognize that even if we get 90%
Edmonton —a grassroots organization founded more sustainable products in local stores.“When performance, you're still going to have 10%.”
in 2018 working to significantly reduce the you say 'I don't like this over-packaged', they'll
amount of waste produced in Edmonton— do something about it if enough people say Edson Recycling Depot Manager Anne Auriat
continued the workshop by highlighting some that,” he said. “Those are the people we have to said, “There was two questions asked this
false solutions in regards to combating single- change because that's where the majority of afternoon; one is the incentive of giving people
use plastic waste, such as recycling. people do their shopping.” discounts for bringing their own bag in. Does
The Weekly Anchor “People think we can just recycle our way out Lindsay Seidel-Wassenaar with RCA led the that work?”
Seidel replied, “No. If you charge people for
5040 3rd Avenue, Edson of this,” Stepchuk began. “When it comes to next presentation, which looked at statistics something, it will change their behavior. If you
780-723-5787 plastic, it's different than, let's say, an aluminum surrounding the success of plastic bag fees give them a financial reward, it will not change
can. Aluminum you melt and make a new can versus plastic bag bans in municipalities across
and you can do that over and over because of the world. their behavior. Nobody understands why.”
the chemical properties of the can. Plastic Auriat then asked if a municipality should
Kids Make A Difference is sponsored by: doesn't work that way. You have a bunch of In 2011, the Northwest Territories introduced a consider a plastic bag ban or a fee.
plastic bottles and you recycle them and maybe 25 cent plastic bag fee for both plastic and paper “Around bags, definitely do a fee,” Seidel
bags. “The 25 cents that they charge does go
make a bench or a children's toy. But what back to the territorial government and that goes replied. “It's going to have just as much success
happens with that then? That is now no longer into an environmental fund,” Seidel-Wassenaar and you're going to have a lot less pushback.”
recyclable. You're extending it a bit but you're mentioned. Seidel added, “If you put a ban in, you're
not extending it into the future indefinitely.” Seidel-Wassenaar added that this policy going to end up in court; everybody has.”
According to recent studies, only 9% of plastic Auriat concluded the workshop by thanking
ends up getting recycled in Canada. “There's includes some exemptions, including paper bags the Recycling Society Board for putting the
in hardware stores and produce bags in grocery
Sand & Gravel Sales/Hauling lots of reasons for this and one of them is there's stores. “This is very common,” she said. work into this event and the summer students
for their volunteering efforts.
Quality Work only so many markets out there and it's “Almost all municipal reduction programs that “If you think of a topic or you see something
expensive,” Stepchuk said. “Plus, a lot of things
Serving Edson & District Since 1974 don't make it into the recycling stream anyway; I've seen do have exemption like that for certain that you would really like to get information on,
bags.”
let us know because that's what we really want
780-723-5152 they just end up as litter or in the landfill.” Through the introduction of this plastic bag to do is the education and promotion within the
Another false solution, according to Stepchuk,
is with regards to plastic single-use item fee, in 2018 the Northwest Territories accounted community,” Auriat said.
for 80 bag free businesses and 30 million plastic
THE WEEKLY ANCHOR
PAGE 4 MONDAY JULY 1, 2019 MONDAY JUNE 24, 2019 PAGE 3
Recycling Society hosts Reductions Strategies workshop
EPR, single-use plastic alternatives, plastic bag fee and more discussed
by Cassie Kushniruk
With the federal government's recent
announcement to ban harmful single-use
plastics as early as 2021, the Edson and District
Recycling Society thought it was an opportune
time to educate community members on single-
use plastics and reduction strategies through a
double workshop on June 20.
During the afternoon, municipal councillors,
West Yellowhead Landfill Authority members,
and business owners were invited to the
Galloway Station Museum for the first
workshop of the day, followed by an evening
workshop directed to the general population.
Each workshop featured presentations from
organizations that have made efforts in
addressing the harmful impacts of single-use
items in their communities.
Recycling Council of Alberta (RCA)
Executive Director Christina Seidel began the
workshop by explaining the faults of single-use
plastics, “Plastic is the type of material that is
very durable; it lasts a long time and yet half of
the plastic that is produced in the world is During the Single-Use Plastic Items Reduction Strategies workshop hosted at the Galloway Station
designed to be used once and then thrown away. Museum on June 20, Waste Free Edmonton co-founder Sean Stepchuk informed attendants of some
If you look at the type of plastic [waste] we false solutions to the single-use plastic items issue. photo Cassie Kushniruk
have in places like beaches, 80% of that is
single-use plastic.” alternatives, such as items labelled plant-based,
In October of 2009, the Canadian Council of biodegradable, compostable, etc. “People think bags avoided with a 75% reduction rate in terms
of plastic bag use.
PASSPORT Ministers of the Environment (CCME) as long as we have something that's made of One attendant of the workshop expressed
approved a Canada-wide Action Plan for
PASSPORT PHOTOS & MORE PHOTOS & MORE Extended Producer Responsibility (CAP-EPR) something better [than plastic], that's going to concerns for implementing a plastic bag fee in
Professional Digital in order to create a 'harmonized approach' to be better for us,” he said. “If you throw [a Edson, as it gives people the option to continue
biodegradable/plant-based/compostable, etc.
Passport System EPR. cup] in your recycling …the people who are to use plastic bags. “There are many people that
will keep taking the easy way out and pay the
EPR is defined as a 'policy approach in which
Professional Digital photos ready a producer's responsibility for a product is sorting everything will think it looks like five or ten cents and never change their habits.”
in minutes...
Seidel-Wassenaar replied that plastic bag fees
Passport System extended to the post-consumer stage of a plastic, but it's not actually plastic so it's not have proven to make a difference in a variety of
recyclable.”
photos ready The Weekly Anchor product's life cycle'. “Traditionally, while a “The whole point behind this is… single use municipalities. “If you want to develop a
5040 3rd Avenue, Edson
customer is responsible for getting rid of waste,
in minutes 780-723-5787 under EPR the manufacturer would be items are just the tip of the iceberg and it's all program with industry alongside supporting
part of our disposable society,” Stepchuk said,
you, fees are the way to go,” she said.
while you wait... responsible for properly managing the item at encouraging attendants to focus on reducing Another attendant commented, “We have a
Seidel explained.
the end of its life,”
Under the terms of CAP-EPR, it is stated that
PASSPORT Canadian jurisdictions would work towards the rather than recycling. transient community here with the oil and gas
Owner of Earth's General Store, Michael
and everything else. Has there been a study
The Weekly Anchor PHOTOS & MORE development of EPR framework legislation Kalmanovich, took over the workshop to inform done on a town like this with the transient
attendants of his reduced waste grocery store in
population?”
Professional Digital
and/or regulations to allow for action on
Seidel replied that larger cities face a similar
5040 3rd Avenue, Edson Passport System identified priority products and materials. Edmonton. “What we do is we want to population with regards to multi-family
encourage people to not use plastics,”
photos ready
“Essentially every province in Canada except
DROP IN AND SEE! 780-723-5787 in minutes... for Alberta has done that,” Seidel said. “There Kalmanovich said. “You have to bring your own residences. “They have a really hard time
bags and containers.”
getting performance out of them,” she said.
are no regulated EPR programs in Alberta. This
As there is no service like this available in
is an area where we really fall short.” Edson, Kalmanovich encouraged attendants to “You have to have different types of programs
Sean Stepchuk, co-founder of Waste Free use their voice to lobby for less packaging and for the different parts of the population and you
also need to recognize that even if we get 90%
Edmonton —a grassroots organization founded more sustainable products in local stores.“When performance, you're still going to have 10%.”
in 2018 working to significantly reduce the you say 'I don't like this over-packaged', they'll
amount of waste produced in Edmonton— do something about it if enough people say Edson Recycling Depot Manager Anne Auriat
continued the workshop by highlighting some that,” he said. “Those are the people we have to said, “There was two questions asked this
false solutions in regards to combating single- change because that's where the majority of afternoon; one is the incentive of giving people
use plastic waste, such as recycling. people do their shopping.” discounts for bringing their own bag in. Does
The Weekly Anchor “People think we can just recycle our way out Lindsay Seidel-Wassenaar with RCA led the that work?”
Seidel replied, “No. If you charge people for
5040 3rd Avenue, Edson of this,” Stepchuk began. “When it comes to next presentation, which looked at statistics something, it will change their behavior. If you
780-723-5787 plastic, it's different than, let's say, an aluminum surrounding the success of plastic bag fees give them a financial reward, it will not change
can. Aluminum you melt and make a new can versus plastic bag bans in municipalities across
and you can do that over and over because of the world. their behavior. Nobody understands why.”
the chemical properties of the can. Plastic Auriat then asked if a municipality should
Kids Make A Difference is sponsored by: doesn't work that way. You have a bunch of In 2011, the Northwest Territories introduced a consider a plastic bag ban or a fee.
plastic bottles and you recycle them and maybe 25 cent plastic bag fee for both plastic and paper “Around bags, definitely do a fee,” Seidel
bags. “The 25 cents that they charge does go
make a bench or a children's toy. But what back to the territorial government and that goes replied. “It's going to have just as much success
happens with that then? That is now no longer into an environmental fund,” Seidel-Wassenaar and you're going to have a lot less pushback.”
recyclable. You're extending it a bit but you're mentioned. Seidel added, “If you put a ban in, you're
not extending it into the future indefinitely.” Seidel-Wassenaar added that this policy going to end up in court; everybody has.”
According to recent studies, only 9% of plastic Auriat concluded the workshop by thanking
ends up getting recycled in Canada. “There's includes some exemptions, including paper bags the Recycling Society Board for putting the
in hardware stores and produce bags in grocery
Sand & Gravel Sales/Hauling lots of reasons for this and one of them is there's stores. “This is very common,” she said. work into this event and the summer students
for their volunteering efforts.
Quality Work only so many markets out there and it's “Almost all municipal reduction programs that “If you think of a topic or you see something
expensive,” Stepchuk said. “Plus, a lot of things
Serving Edson & District Since 1974 don't make it into the recycling stream anyway; I've seen do have exemption like that for certain that you would really like to get information on,
bags.”
let us know because that's what we really want
780-723-5152 they just end up as litter or in the landfill.” Through the introduction of this plastic bag to do is the education and promotion within the
Another false solution, according to Stepchuk,
is with regards to plastic single-use item fee, in 2018 the Northwest Territories accounted community,” Auriat said.
for 80 bag free businesses and 30 million plastic
