Featured Article
A Tribute to Kit Strange
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Featured Project 
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Check out our Fall Education & Training Schedule:
Education & Training 2011/2012 Program Schedule
EWMCE Courses/Seminars:
Anaerobic Digestion
Course Notice
Environmental Compliance
October 25, 2011
Course Notice
Source Control
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Upcoming Events & Trade Shows
FIMAINovember 8 - 10, 2011
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Suntec, Singapore |
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Message from the Executive Manager
 Grieving the loss of a good friend to the EWMCE - Kit Strange - my message this quarter will focus on the wisdom of three great men who have recently passed: Kit Strange, Steve Jobs, and Jack Layton, and how this wisdom impacts the waste management sector. Some of you may find this message solemn. My intent in preparing this message was to share how the lives and words of these men inspired me and give me hope for the future. Kit Strange was one of the leading advocates for sustainable waste management. My first exposure to his world occurred while I was a graduate student in the mid 1980s when I would routinely read his publication, the Warmer Bulletin. The stories shared in this publication introduced me to the challenges facing the waste management industry and the resource recovery movement. It was clear that we needed to change our wasteful behaviour and these changes would take time. Over the past three decades the useful information, data, and stories shared by Kit have provided motivation to us all. It is difficult for me to imagine someone having a larger network of connections in the world of resource recovery than Kit. His legacy is enormous and he will be greatly missed. Another remarkable person, arguably the greatest CEO the world has ever known, Steve Jobs, was guided by a quotation he read when he was seventeen, "If you live each day as if it was your last, some day you'll most certainly be right." These words guided him for the rest of his life. At his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, he stated, "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life . . . Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other peoples' thinking. Don't let the noise of other opinions drown out your own inner voice and most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." These words reminded me of the early days of resource recovery. Entrenched in the thinking of lowest cost engineering, resource recovery was commonly deemed too expensive and a fad that would pass. While it is true the resource recovery movement has had some ups and downs, it is clearly a trend that is here to stay. Society's collective inner voice has been heard and understood by decision makers around the world. Mike Layton, during his eulogy for his father, mentioned one of his Dad's favourite sayings, "Always have a dream that is larger than a lifetime." The dream of achieving true sustainable waste management is much larger than a lifetime. We must continue to inspire new generations of entrepreneurs and leaders to keep the movement alive and strong. The Edmonton Waste Management Centre of Excellence mandate is to provide expertise and infrastructure in support of your education, research, and technology development needs. We are a hub for resource recovery knowledge and are proud to be working with you; sharing our successes and failures as we continue towards a world without waste.
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Waste - The Social Context
2011 CONFERENCE PEOPLE, POLICIES, PERSUASION AND PAYOFFS
EWMCE hosted its third conference, Waste - The Social Context: People, Policies, Persuasion and Payoffs from May 8th to 11th. This unique conference bridges the gap between technology and the social sciences, looking at how people and policies affect the creation and implementation of technological innovation. The best technology in the world will not succeed without acceptance by the people who will use it; how does a city or a nation get that acceptance from its citizens?
The conference speakers came from a dozen countries and presented fascinating research on diverse topics loosely arranged into the following categories: Policies and Persuasion; Wastewater Reuse; Workers in Waste Management; Case Studies on Organic Waste; Strategies for Engagement; Case Studies on Solid and Industrial Waste. Conference papers are available for viewing on our website at
http://www.ewmce.com/library/2011-conference-proceedings.
The conference sessions were held at Grant MacEwan University; and the Monday night banquet hosted at the Sutton Place Hotel featured performances by 6 groups of local performers who exemplified the cultural diversity of Alberta and Canada.
EWMCE also played a large part in The REELWaste Film Festival, hosted in conjunction with the City of Edmonton during the conference. The films were shown at the Metro Cinema at the Citadel Theatre and were open to the public as well as to conference participants. This was the 3rd year for The REELWaste, and we were pleased to see a much higher attendance this year.
The Conference content was well received by participants with the "overall conference experience" being rated "excellent" or "above average" by almost 80% of respondents. Great job to the EWMCE team!
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Edmonton Waste Management
Centre of Excellence
Site 310, 13111 Meridian Street
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6S 1G9
Telephone: (780) 496-7316
Fax: (780) 944-5709
Email: ewmce@edmonton.caWeb: www.ewmce.com |
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