FALL/WINTER 2018

Divert NS News & Events: Working to improve Nova Scotia’s environment, economy, and quality of life by championing recycling and waste diversion in Nova Scotia.

Raising Awareness About Sustainable Procurement............................................................2

Our Small Actions Can Have a Big Impact .........................................................................2

If It’s Broken, Fix-it ................................................3

Catalyst for Change: Engaging With Partners ......................................................................3

No Food Wasted! ....................................................4

Celebrating Nova Scotia’s Environmental Champions ................................................................5

Funding Innovation: Recently Approved Projects ................................................6

And the 2018 Mobius Award Goes To… .....................................................................6

Accuracy Counts! ...................................................6

Recognizing Enviro-DepotTM Excellence ....7

Recycling by the Numbers: Beverage Container & Tire Programs ..............................7

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IN THIS ISSUE:Happy Holidays from Divert NS! It’s been another successful year at Divert NS. Thanks for following along with us. We wish you a safe, joyful holiday and a happy New Year!

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Pictured above are some Divert NS staff, left to right: Sherry Roberts, Jeff MacCallum, Nick Chestnut, Stacy Breau, Angie Crowe Jeffrey, Kurt Laskow-Pooley

Raising Awareness About Sustainable Procurement

VIEW PRESENTATIONS HERE VIEW PHOTOS HERE

September 21, Divert NS hosted the Sustainable Procurement Summit: Waste as a Resource in Construction & Renovation in Dartmouth. The goals of the event were to raise awareness of local companies that supply recycled products and services; increase understanding of how recycled products and services could meet government needs; and increase the procurement of local recycled products in the province.

Approximately 60 key stakeholders attended, including procurement staff from government, local manufacturers of recycled products, construction companies and associations, municipal waste management reps, and environmental

organizations. The event’s built-in networking opportunities proved to facilitate many meaningful connections between attendees.

The following presentations were delivered at the Summit and are available on Divert NS’ website:• Sustainable Procurement Overview, Lynda Rankin, Nova

Scotia Procurement• Sustainability at NSCC, Kirk Herman, NSCC• High Performance Tire Derived Aggregate (TDA) Use in

Nova Scotia, Jim Simmons, H. James Simmons P.Eng Consulting Ltd

• Diverting Salvageable Materials, Jennifer Corson and Keith Robertson, Solterre Design

During the event, attendees had the opportunity to brainstorm key challenges and opportunities in increasing the procurement of recycled products and services within Nova Scotia.

A summary of the attendees’ input is also available on the Divert NS website: Sustainable Procurement Summit Report.

For more than 20 years, Divert NS has built a culture of recycling in Nova Scotia. Now, more than ever, it is easy to recycle. But it is also easier than ever to over-consume. There is a perception that “putting waste in the right bag” is the best thing we can do for the environment. Actually, this may be the bare minimum.

Finding end markets for recycled materials at home and around the world is becoming more challenging and it is having an impact here in Nova Scotia. We must change our behaviour to stop waste before it starts.

On October 26, Divert NS launched a multi-year Reduce awareness campaign. Nova Scotians will see a combination of online digital and print ads, as well as TV ads and billboards.

The little things we do every day can be either big problems or big solutions for our environment. The choice is ours!

Our Small Actions Can Have a Big Impact

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In our throw away culture, a linear consumption model of take-make-waste dominates, supported by a seemingly never-ending flow of cheap materials. Goods are no longer made to last. Instead, they are designed for easy replacement and disposal above reparability and recyclability. This has caused high disposal rates, congested landfills, food waste, littering, micro plastic pollution, and countless other negative environmental externalities. To begin combating this issue we must look at material goods with a changed perspective: what do we consider as waste versus a resource?

In 2016, Clean Foundation brought forward an initiative to enhance awareness of the repair culture already existing in Atlantic Canada, starting with Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Fix-it Fair is a tradeshow style event that showcases the talents, skills, and services of local repairers, upcyclers, artists, and businesses. With help from our primary sponsors, Divert NS and the Province of Nova Scotia,

If It’s Broken, Fix-it Contributed Article from Clean Foundation

the Fix-it Fairs have been able to grow at quite a rapid pace. The first annual Halifax Fix-it Fair hosted by Clean in 2016 had 10 vendors, a repair café, and approximately 100 attendees. By contrast, the 2018 Fair had 25 vendors, seven workshops, an all-day clothing swap, a repair café, and approximately 400 attendees. Each year the Fix-it events gain more widespread awareness, attraction, and media coverage, allowing Clean to incorporate new ideas, more participants, and offer more educational opportunities than before.

Aside from the annual Halifax fairs, other Nova Scotian communities and organizations have shown interest in having their own Fix-it events. This fall there were two affiliated Fix-it Fairs outside of the Halifax Regional Municipality. The Village of Sherbrooke hosted a Fair on September 9th, deeming it their “first annual Fix-it Fair,” and on November 3, there was a Fair in Sydney, Cape Breton hosted by the New Dawn Centre for Social Innovation. Both communities had successful first events, and said that it definitely won’t be their last. On November 21, Clean partnered with the

MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning to have an educational Fix-it repair café to expose their youth to repair culture. Education is a large part of the Clean Foundation’s mission, and Fix-it events are great ways to give people opportunities to learn about repairing, repurposing, and upcycling they otherwise might not have.

It’s inspiring seeing others so interested and actively involved with the Fix-it initiative. Clean is very appreciative of everyone who has participated in a Fix-it event this year, and we can only hope people continue to think with a Fix-it perspective, support local repairers, contribute to their local circular economies, and waste less.

BRIGHT BUSINESS CONFERENCEORGANIZED BY: EFFICIENCY NOVA SCOTIAOCTOBER 16, HALIFAXDivert NS was once again a sponsor of the Bright Business Awards that took place as part of a one-day conference organized by Efficiency Nova Scotia. Divert NS staff attended the event, as it is a great venue to network with like-minded stakeholders working to change behavior in the energy sector.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROFESSIONAL DAY ORGANIZED BY: ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CAUCUSOCTOBER 26, SHUBENACADIE WILDLIFE PARKThis event brought together approximately 80+ teachers for a professional development day focused on environmental education opportunities in Nova Scotia. Divert NS staff partnered with Andrea Trask of the Municipality of East Hants to raise awareness of the free resources offered by Divert NS

Catalyst for Change: Engaging With Partnersand our regional education partners, including lesson plans, signage, and classroom presentations.

NOVA SCOTIA FEDERATION OF MUNICIPALITIES FALL CONFERENCENOVEMBER 7-9, HALIFAXThe NSFM conference is an important opportunity to network with elected officials from across Nova Scotia. Our tradeshow booth offered great opportunity for one-on-one conversations with councillors to talk about waste. There is always a lot of reflection on our achievements in waste management to date, and discussion about possible next steps. Extended Producer Responsibility for Printed Paper and Packaging (PPP) was a hot topic at this year’s event. Divert NS is pleased to see municipalities united in their request for a full EPR program in Nova Scotia.

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October 15-21 marked Waste Reduction Week 2018. Divert NS celebrated our No Food Wasted campaign, aimed to help Nova Scotians reduce food waste, in partnership with municipalities and Sobeys.

During the week, all Sobeys stores in Nova Scotia displayed signage encouraging shoppers to take steps to reduce food waste and directing them to Divert NS’ website for more information.

Regional waste educators staffed booths at 25 Sobeys stores to provide information and tips to reduce food waste, and hand out educational materials. These materials included shopping lists, food storage information and freezer labels. Where available, waste educators partnered with an in-store chef or dietician to serve meals that could be made with leftovers.

Divert NS also ran a social media campaign driving people to our website to learn more about reducing food waste. Advertisements for the campaign were also placed in newspapers across the province and in the Chronicle Herald.

No Food Wasted!

DISCOVERY AWARDSORGANIZED BY: DISCOVERY CENTRENOVEMBER 22, HALIFAX As a first-time sponsor, Divert NS was excited to participate in this prestigious event that brought together more than 600 key people in science and academia. Divert NS’ sponsorship of the interactive game portion of the event gave a great profile to our organization. The game components were packed into Divert NS-branded reusable produce bags that were also provided to attendees to take home.

Engaging With Partners... continued

CLEAN OCEAN SUMMITORGANIZED BY: CLEAN FOUNDATIONNOVEMBER 27 & 28, ST. ANDREWS, NBAs a sponsor and member of the steering committee that organized the Clean Ocean Summit, Divert NS helped frame a two-day discussion focused on waste management issues impacting the marine environment. The event brought together approximately 60 representatives from academia, industry, NGOs, and government from the maritime provinces. The key focus areas of discussion included reduction of single-use plastics and best practices to reduce ghost fishing gear.

PUT SOME THOUGHT INTO HOW YOU SHOPFood waste is a big problem. A recent Nova Scotia waste audit demonstrated that food makes up 11.5% of what’s going into landfills. This is a strain on our environment - and our wallets. In fact, it is estimated that wasted food costs the average Canadian household $1,100 per year.

Simple strategies - like sticking to your grocery list, storing fruits and veggies properly, and getting creative with your leftovers – can help the environment and save money, too.

These simple tips that you can use before, during and after grocery shopping will reduce the amount of food wasted and help you save money!

Plan meals and make a grocery listGet creative with leftoversThink about expiry datesStore fruits & vegetables properly so they last longer

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Jeff MacCallum, Divert NS, visiting the Waste Reduction Week display at Sobeys Truro, hosted by Deborah Searle, Colchester Waste Resource Management.

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For over two decades, Divert NS has been celebrating and recognizing the achievements of innovative Nova Scotians who have helped make our province a leader in recycling and waste diversion. Held annually, the Mobius Awards of Environmental Excellence bring together Nova Scotia’s environmental champions from business, government, academics, and communities across the province.

The 2018 Mobius Awards took place at the Seaport Farmers’ Market in Halifax on October 25.

The event featured keynote speaker, minimalist Joshua Becker. Joshua is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of Simplify, The More of Less, and Clutterfree with Kids and the co-creator of Simplify Magazine. Joshua’s story and writing have inspired millions around the world to find more life by owning fewer possessions. He is one of the leading voices in the modern simplicity movement reaching over one million readers every month.

The Mobius Awards are always enriched by support from our partners. We extend thanks to this year’s generous sponsors who were integral to making the Mobius Awards event possible:

Award category sponsors: EPRA Nova Scotia Efficiency Nova Scotia Novapet Inc. Scotia Recycling Ltd.VIP Reception sponsor: Grant ThorntonSupporting sponsor: Innovation HubEngagement sponsors: Patterson Law Farnell Packaging

Divert NS also thanks the members of the award submission judging panel:

Ashley David from Nova Scotia EnvironmentBlair Brown from CIBCCharlynne Robertson from Clean FoundationJanet Tobin from Efficiency Nova Scotia Kurt Laskow-Pooley from Divert NSMegan Beazley from Matt’s Bottle ExchangeRoschell Clarke from Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Solid Waste

Celebrating Nova Scotia’s Environmental Champions

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Photo 1 at top: 2018 Mobius Awards at the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market Photo 2 left to right: Jeff MacCallum, Divert NS; Ken Meech, Divert NS;

Community Project of the Year Award recipients Sandra Quesnel and Aimee Acker from The Store Next Door; Honourable

Margaret Miller, Nova Scotia Minister of Environment Photo 3 left to right: Matt and Megan Beazley, Matt’s Bottle Exchange,

keynote speaker and minimalist, Joshua Becker Photo 4: Jeff MacCallum, Divert NS, addresses award recipients

and sponsors at the VIP Reception

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Small Business of the Year: G-Man Waste Removal

Large Business of the Year: IKEA Halifax

Community Project of the Year: YACRO Social Enterprise

The Store Next Door

Institution of the Year: Department of National Defence

14 Wing Greenwood

Innovator of the Year: Oberland Agriscience

Emerging Environmental Leader: Kate Pepler

Hall of Fame: Gert Sweeney

And the 2018 Mobius Award Goes To…

WINNERS & PHOTOS HERE

Divert NS provides funding for a variety of projects to support waste diversion and reduction efforts across the province. Many materials end up in our landfills simply because we do not yet have a way to reduce, reuse, or recycle them. Diverting problematic materials from landfills requires new solutions and Divert NS offers funding to assist.

USING TDA TO CONTROL GROUND-BORNE VIBRATIONS The need for new industrial infrastructure is on the rise. However, high levels of ground-borne vibrations from this construction can become problematic for nearby residential areas by disturbing neighbours or causing structural damage to adjacent buildings.

Wave barriers are used to mitigate ground-borne vibrations from large machinery, blasting and other construction related activities. The materials currently used to reduce ground vibrations are costly and not economical when used in large quantities. Keeping both cost and efficiency issues in mind, tire derived aggregate (TDA) is proposed to be an effective and economically viable alternative.

Funding Innovation: Recently Approved Projects

Across Nova Scotia, there are 78 Enviro-Depots collecting, sorting and counting beverage containers from the public on behalf of Divert NS’ Beverage Container Depot-Refund Program. The integrity of any beverage container program relies on the accuracy of container counts. To help ensure accurate counts, in 2015, Divert NS introduced changes to the quality control audits of containers collected

Accuracy Counts!at Enviro-Depots. Under the new process, bags of beverage containers are randomly selected for audit and brought to our processing facility in Kemptown for quality control counting.

The objective of the program is to achieve + or - 2% accuracy. Right now, our depot partners are at 0.1% variance for this year. Great results!

Divert NS will contribute $35,000 to Dr. Hany El Naggar and his research team at Dalhousie University for the two-year project to study the dynamic properties of TDA and its benefits in reducing ground-borne vibrations in construction.

PLASTIC FILM RECYCLING STUDY The rapid increase in the use and disposal of plastic materials is a challenge for solid waste management systems, and is having an impact on our environment. Although Nova Scotian households sort plastics for curbside collection and municipalities process it for market, large volumes were still being sold and shipped to China.

As of January 1, 2018, China closed its doors to much of the plastic it had previously accepted. This caused issues worldwide, but also created opportunities to look at alternate end markets for plastic.

Divert NS will contribute $10,000 to Cape Breton University undergraduate student Gemma Whyte for research to investigate how other areas are

responding to the plastic film challenge, and how these initiatives can be implemented in Nova Scotia.

The success of the quality control process is due to participation and engagement of our Enviro-DepotTM partners. Some depots have even benefited from the quality control process by using it to monitor their own operations and make improvements to their businesses. Divert NS thanks depots for their efforts.

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Divert NS is a not-for-profit corporation working in partnership with Nova Scotians to improve the province’s environment, economy and quality of life by reducing, reusing, recycling and recovering resources.

Divert NS35 Commercial Street, Suite 400Truro, Nova Scotia B3N 3H91-877-313-7732info@divertns.ca

Recycling by the Numbers: Beverage Container & Tire ProgramsDivert NS operates two core recycling programs: the Beverage Container Deposit-Refund Program and the Used Tire Management Program. Embraced by Nova Scotians, these programs are among the most successful in Canada. Below are the results of collections from April 1 to September 30, 2018.

BEVERAGE CONTAINER DEPOSIT-REFUND PROGRAM

215 MILLION containers returned for recycling (at Sept. 2017: 204 million)

261 MILLION containers on which deposits were paid (at Sept. 2017: 253 million)

82.1% RECOVERY RATE (at Sept. 2017: 80.4%)

USED TIRE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

910+registered tire retailers in Nova Scotia

681,000 PTEs passenger tire equivalents collected (at Sept. 2017: 613,000)

89.8% RECOVERY RATE (at Sept. 2017: 79.9%)

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Recognizing Enviro-DepotTM Excellence

Above, Jeff MacCallum, Divert NS, presents the Depot of the Year Award for Small Depot to Shelley Zinck, owner of the New Germany Enviro Center.

Above, Jeff MacCallum, Divert NS, presents the Depot of the Year Award for Large Depot to Paper Chase Bottle Exchange in Yarmouth. Left to right: Nicholas Deveau; Jeff MacCallum; Peter and Dorothy Hadley, depot owners; Chantal Thibeault, depot General Manager

The annual Enviro-DepotTM of the Year Awards recognize and celebrate the Enviro-Depots across Nova Scotia who go above and beyond in customer service and employee relations, engage and support their community, and participate in Divert NS depot initiatives.

The awards are presented in two categories: Large Enviro-DepotTM of the Year and Small Enviro-DepotTM of the Year. Recipients receive a plaque to display in their depot, gift certificates, and provincial recognition through a Chronicle Herald advertisement.

Congratulations to Small Depot of the Year: New Germany Enviro Center and Large Depot of the Year: Paper Chase Bottle Exchange!

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