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On January 27, BOMA Calgary hosted a session at the Centennial Place, about changes coming to the Waste and Recycling Bylaw, which will affect owners and managers of commercial buildings.

The morning included; Noreen Music from Oxford Properties speaking about Centennial Place’s waste reduction and diversion initiatives & Lauren Minuk from The City of Calgary speaking about bylaw changes.

A panel of experts, including:

Noreen Music, Oxford Properties
Leanne Michie, The City of Calgary
Graeme Dobinson, Recycle Smart
Josh Cavers, Waste Management
Steve Brown, Fin-Wall Site Services
Nelson Berlin, BluPlanet Recycling

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Under the bylaw changes, businesses and organizations must provide separate onsite storage for a specific list of recyclable materials. That list includes all of the items now accepted in the residential Blue Cart program plus materials specific to the sector such as scrap metal, clear plastic (polyethylene) film and raw and unprocessed wood (such as dimensional lumber and pallets).

Prior to the bylaw change, commercial vehicle loads of garbage containing paper and cardboard will be subject to higher disposal fees at City landfills effective February 1, 2016. The City will ban paper and cardboard from our landfills by mid-2018. These actions are intended to encourage more recycling of these materials.

Council has also approved the Industrial, Commercial and Institutional Organics Diversion Strategy. The strategy includes bylaw changes requiring businesses and organizations to separate their food and yard waste too so they can be diverted or composted instead of buried in a landfill. Waste & Recycling Services plans to bring proposed bylaw amendments to Council in the fall of 2016.

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A tour of Centennial Place’s waste diversion program

For those who missed the session, (session slides) more information about upcoming changes can be found at calgary.ca/businessrecycling or call 311 if you have questions that aren’t answered online. 2

We had a great turnout, many thanks to all those who attended. A very special thank you to Laura Minuk from City of Calgary and Noreen Music and her team at Centennial Place who hosted the session and provided a delicious (and zero waste!) breakfast. Check out the highlights!