The Board and Staff of the Compost Council of Canada want to wish everyone a fabulous holiday season for 2010! We look forward to working with you next year with renewed energy and drive!

Annual National Compost Conference 2011

Join us in PEI! Our 21st Annual National Conference will be held in gorgeous Charlottetown, PE, September 19-21, 2011! Although some time was spent on PEI during our 2007 conference held in Moncton, this will be the first time we are planning the main event on the island. We are very proud to be able to do so, and hope that all of you will be able to join us!

Keep tuned for more announcements… a Call for Papers, Exhibit Package, Sponsorship Package and other information will be made available very soon.

The A-B-C-s of Odour Management at a Compost Facility

We had a great turnout to this workshop, which was held on October 28, 2010 in Milton. Dr. Lambert Otten prepared a fabulous presentation which covered:

• Odour and its properties
• Odour sampling and analysis
• Chemistry of odours
• Odour generation in composting
• Odour emissions
• Odour control
• Odour treatment
• Emergency measures

An option to participate by internet/teleconference was offered, as a trial. Although there were some technical stresses, we learned a lot from the experience, and hope to be able to offer a similar option for future workshops.

The slide presentation is available at:
http://www.compost.org/English/PDF/ODOUR_WORKSHOP_CCC_OCT28-2002.pdf
(If the link does not take you there directly, please copy and paste it directly into your browser to access the presentation.)

Canadian Waste & Recycling Expo 2010

We participated with a booth and a luncheon at this year’s CWRE in Toronto. It was a great networking session, and we really enjoyed catching up with our members who could attend! Thanks to all who made it. The next CWRE will be held in Montreal, November 9-10, 2011.

“TRASHED”!

Our luncheon on Thursday November 4th during the Canadian Waste & Recycling Expo this year featured Gordon McGuinty, author of “Trashed”.

The Adams Mine was a major environmental project with international implications and Mr. McGuinty was the driving force and public spokesperson for the project.

Mr. McGuinty’s presentation was full of insight and important lessons for everyone concerning interacting with the media, managing political implications of a project, evaluation of a project’s environmental and economic benefits, and identifying and managing opposition.

2010 Conference

Thanks to all of you who participated in our 20th Annual National Conference this September in Ottawa. We welcomed about 250 with some great tours, jam-packed informational sessions, and a couple of great parties too. The crowd for Thursday evening’s dinner (and dance) event was particularly enthusiastic! We saw many longtime supporters, and also many new faces.

Thanks to all of our Sponsors, Exhibitors, Speakers, Delegates and Staff for having made this event the success that it was!

The final proceedings are now available, and can be visited at: http://www.compost.org/English/proceedings_2010_01.htm.

Soupalicious 2010, Toronto ON

The soup was on, on Thanksgiving weekend! With the participation of 35 fabulous restaurants cooking up 45 different gourmet soups, and several sponsors with everything from mushrooms, sprouts/salad, cured meats, salad dressings, baked goods and many other items, about 750 people enjoyed Toronto’s first Soupalicious event.

We got great support from our sponsors, especially from Exhibition Place, as well as benefiting from some very positive media coverage, a fantastic team of volunteers and dedicated staff!

Compost's Giants Pumpkin Contest 2010

Next year will be the 10th anniversary of this friendly competition, which has become a fun part of the growing season for several of our members! We have a first time winner this year… With their largest pumpkin weighing in at 328 lbs, our winner this year is Northridge Farms! They sent the following picture of their fabulous pumpkin. Their photo below says it all.

This year’s race was a close one, and honourable mentions go to ADI PEI with a pumpkin of 322 lbs, and the City of Barrie with their pumpkin weighing in at 317 lbs!

We hope everyone who participated had a great time, and that this year’s close competition inspires more to get involved!

Regulations

The Compost Quality Alliance meets with the CFIA

On December 2nd, Council members and staff met with folks at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to discuss the progress of the Compost Quality Alliance including our facility audits, labeling and testing programs. The program’s success to-date in ensuring sampling consistency and facility monitoring has been recognized. Early in 2011, the program will ramp up considerably with outreach focused on targeted user marketing and broader communication.

Updating Ontario’s 1991 Interim Compost Guidelines

A joint working partnership with representatives from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Municipal Waste Association, Regional Public Works Commissioners of Ontario, Ontario Waste Management Association and Environment & Plastics Industry Council is being undertaken with the Compost Council of Canada to review existing and proposed compost guidelines in Ontario. The purpose is to help positively advance large-scale organics recycling and ensure industry sustainability. Technical parameters as well as regulatory scope are now the focus with additional work to be done in First Quarter 2011.

Ontario MPP proposes Organic Waste ban in Ontario

Opposition member, Norm Sterling, introduced a private members’ bill in the Ontario Legislature in early December, proposing that all Ontario municipalities over 5,000 population divert all organic waste to composting instead of landfills. The bill has passed 2nd reading. To read the full details of the proposed act visit:
http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&Intranet=&BillID=2447

The Council welcomes all member input on this proposal and recommended next steps.

Capital Regional District extends landfill restrictions to Product Stewardship Materials, effective January 2, 2011

The Capital Regional District (CRD) Board has approved the restriction of product stewardship materials at Hartland Landfill effective January 2, 2011. Building on existing restrictions which include paper and yard & garden waste, drywall, cardboard, directories, large appliances, tires and fill materials, the new restrictions include all current and future materials covered under the BC Recycling Regulation. The current product stewardship materials include: beverage containers, paint, solvents & flammable liquids, used gasoline, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, lead acid batteries, used lubricating oil, filters & containers and electronic products such as computers and televisions. The restrictions are part of CRD’s strategy to reach a waste diversion goal of 60% by 2013.

For more information, contact the CRD Hotline @ 250 360 3030 or hotline@crd.bc.ca or visit www.crd.bc.ca/hartland.