Winnipeg's Outsourced Waste Collection Service Performance Tops 99.8% with Emterra Environmental

Winnipeg's waste collection services provider Emterra Environmental ends first year of service with impressive 99.8% performance level despite a new system and record breaking cold weather.

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Emterra Group - Emterra Environmental

Apr 02, 2014, 07:20 ET

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, April 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Winnipeg waste collection service performance topped 99.8% as Canada's own Emterra Environmental completed year one of a multi-year agreement, according to statistics compiled from the City of Winnipeg's Comprehensive Integrated Waste Management Strategy (CIWMS) 2013 Annual Report. This represents waste pickup "miss" rates of less than one fifth of one percent. Emterra's impressive performance numbers came despite the introduction of an entirely new collection process and in the face of what was the third coldest winter in the last century in Winnipeg, with accompanying heavy snow. 2014 is poised to set new waste collection performance standards.

"Despite having to cope with a record breaking winter that has been a challenge for all Winnipeggers, we've still been able to deliver on our service contract better than 99.8% of the time. While we're the first to say we can improve, at the same time, we're proud of that record," said Emterra Winnipeg Division's Operations Manager, John Sitarek.

The benefit to the City of Winnipeg extended further. A new system of collection and utilization of Emterra's retrofitted, advanced material recovery facility (MRF) also meant that more recyclables were collected and diverted from landfill - fully 55% more year over year. Winnipeggers also set out record tonnages of yard waste materials in 2013, an increase of 17,000 tonnes over the fall collection season the year before, according to the city's data. More waste collected and advanced sorting capabilities that drastically improve diversion rates are helping Winnipeg, and Manitoba, shed their reputation as recycling laggards compared to other Canadian provinces.

"We're very excited to see Winnipeggers push the waste diversion needle up and putting the city on a path to achieving its waste diversion goal of 35% by 2016," said Emterra Group Founder and CEO, Emmie Leung.

Emterra is in the second year of a five-year integrated solid waste collection contract with the city. In addition to collecting garbage and recycling from a rollout cart system introduced in the fall of 2012, Emterra also collects yard waste and bulky items city-wide. Between the recycling facility and the collection program, Emterra employs more than 200 Manitobans. To manage the new contract, Emterra invested in a $23 million upgrade and expansion to its Henry Avenue material recovery facility (MRF) and introduced approximately 60 technologically-advanced, environmentally-friendly collection trucks fuelled by cleaner-burning compressed natural gas (CNG) which cut Green House Gas emissions by up to 20%. It is the largest fleet of CNG trucks in the world operating in an extreme cold winter climate.

"Everyone who operates trucks faced challenges to keep them moving this winter... even snowplows were down. Overall though, our CNG trucks performed as well as our traditional diesel trucks in the extreme cold," Sitarek said.

To fuel the CNG trucks, Emterra constructed a natural gas refuelling station and a CNG-certified maintenance facility that is the largest in western Canada.

Emterra Group (www.Emterra.ca) operates waste management divisions including Emterra Environmental, Emterra Tire Recycling, and Canadian Liquids processors. Emterra Environmental collects, processes and markets waste resources in more than 80 Canadian communities, serving 10% of the Canadian population. Emterra also operates Emterra Environmental USA (www.EmterraUSA.com) which provides waste disposal and recycling services to 50 municipalities and counties in mid-Michigan.

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SOURCE Emterra Group - Emterra Environmental