Keynotes
Glen Murray
Until very recently, Glen Murray was the executive director of the Pembina Institute.
Prior to joining the Institute, Glen was an Ontario cabinet minister, and oversaw several portfolios, including transportation; training, colleges, and universities; research and innovation, and most recently, environment and climate change. In his role as environment minister, Glen led the development and implementation of the cap-and-trade system, and extended producer responsibility in Ontario. His work was foundational to the creation of the Quebec-Ontario-California carbon market.
Glen has held a number of leadership roles, including serving as mayor of Winnipeg from 1998-2004, and was chair of the Big City Mayors’ Caucus. During his time as mayor, he led the successful fight to transfer the five cents/litre federal gas tax to municipalities.
He also served as chair of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, under Prime Ministers Harper and Martin. Glen was also president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute.
Glen started his career in activism as a founding member of the Canadian AIDS Society, and helped establish the Village Clinic in Winnipeg, a centre for AIDS prevention and care. He has worked internationally, helping establish the World Health AIDS Service Organization’s working group.
Session Speakers
Alfred Wong
Micron Waste Technologies
Alfred Wong is the co-founder and President of Micron Waste Technologies, a publicly listed technology company developing organic waste and greywater treatment systems. Mr. Wong was previously CEO and General Manager of a waste recycling company in Asia Pacific and was the first in the region to develop a mobile platform for users to track recycling pick-up to drop-off. Mr. Wong is a serial entrepreneur and is currently VP Corporate Development at Breathtec Biomedical Inc, Director at Hybrid Minerals USA Inc, and President at Bullrun Capital Inc. Alfred is also a mentor at Spring University, a startup school with locations in 30 countries around the globe. In late 2017, Alfred was appointed to the Economic Advisory Committee for the City of Richmond.
Allen Langdon
Encorp Pacific (Canada)
As the President and CEO of Encorp Pacific (Canada), Allen oversees the most successful used beverage container management program in Canada with a mandate to develop, manage and improve systems to recover used packaging and end-of-life products from consumers and ensure that they are properly recycled and not land-filled or incinerated. Through its Return-It collection network consisting of 171 privately owned Return-It depots, Encorp Pacific has routinely exceeded a 75% recovery rate for used beverage containers in the province while at the same time developing a collection network that has become the backbone for a number of other recycling programs around the province.
Prior to joining Encorp Pacific, Allen served as the Managing Director for Recycle BC, the first 100% Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program for paper and packaging in North America where industry assumed full financial and managerial responsibility for the residential recycling system.
Allen has extensive experience in sustainability and extended producer responsibility, and previously served as the VP of Sustainability for the Retail Council of Canada and the VP of Environment for the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors, advancing those industries’ responses to a range of complex sustainability issues including climate change, sustainable packaging, EPR programs, and animal welfare.
Amber Crawford
Association of Municipalities Ontario
Amber Crawford is a Policy Advisor at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, a non-partisan, non-profit association that provides advocacy for Ontario’s 444 municipalities in their work to achieve shared goals and meet common challenges.
For the past three years, Amber has worked on a variety of municipal issues and has developed a particular interest in waste diversion, becoming a key part of the policy team at AMO. She brings to members experience at all three levels of government, and in particular, a strong knowledge of the legislative process at Queen’s Park through her previous job as a Consultant at a government relations firm.
Prior to AMO, Amber worked with clients in the municipal, education, real estate, and sharing economy sectors in both Ottawa and Toronto for nearly four years. It was there that she developed a strong interest in municipal government and local issues. In addition to her work in stakeholder relations and public affairs, she volunteers for a local board that promotes parliamentary democracy and youth engagement in elections.
Amber holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration from Carleton University in Ottawa and a Bachelor of Arts (Hon.) from Western University in London.
Andrew Stephens
Beverage Container Management Board
Andrew Stephens is a seasoned oil and gas executive with 35+ years of experience with Suncor Energy Inc and predecessor companies. When Andrew retired from Suncor in 2012, he was Senior Vice-President, Business Services reporting to the CEO and President. In this role, he led Suncor’s information, supply chain and field logistics services. As a member of the Executive Team, Mr. Stephens also contributed to the strategic leadership of the Company.
Mr. Stephens began his career in 1977 as a Process Engineer with Gulf Oil Canada at the Port Moody refinery. After joining Petro-Canada as a Project Engineer in 1979, Mr. Stephens held senior and executive leadership roles in operating and functional departments in the Upstream, Downstream and Shared Services areas. He was appointed an Officer of Petro-Canada in 1993.
Mr. Stephens holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. He is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta.
Mr. Stephens has served on the Board and as President of the Youth Science Foundation, and on the Board of the Energy Council of Canada as Board Member, Chair and past Chair, and Honourary Member. He currently serves as the Chair of the Genome Alberta Board and the Beverage Container Management Board.
Bill Stitt
Cascades Recovery+
William (Bill) Stitt is the General Manager, Calgary Operations, for Cascades Recovery+, a division of Cascades Canada ULC.
In August 2018, Bill started his 40th year of Service in the Recycling Industry and he is a two time Past President of the Recycling Council of Alberta.
Since 1990, Bill has been the Contract Manager for multiple Processing and Marketing of Recyclables Materials contracts with the City of Calgary for materials generated from both the City Drop-off Deports and Curbside collection.
While working for Crown Packaging Limited’s Paper Recovery Division in 1994, Bill was named “Employee of The Year.”
In 2007, Cascades Recovery was awarded a ten year Processing and Marketing of Recyclables contract which required a new processing facility to be built. Bill was assigned as Project Manager to oversee the purchase of land, building and equipment installation for a new $31,000,000 state of the art facility which opened on time April 2009.
Bill started in the Recycling Industry in Vancouver, BC, in 1979. He was transferred to Toronto in 1985 and he was transferred to Calgary in 1990 where he currently resides and Recycles!
Brenda Heelan Powell
Environmental Law Centre
Some of Brenda’s earliest memories are of family trips exploring Alberta’s natural beauty… the mountains, the badlands, the forests, the prairies. As a science student at the University of Alberta, Brenda’s budding interest in environmental issues grew and she became intrigued by how decisions and laws affecting our environment are made (which led to law school). Brenda is thrilled to work with the Environmental Law Centre – combining her legal skills with her passion for a sustainable society – and hopes to contribute in some small way to ensuring her wonderful children are left with the same natural legacy she enjoyed as a child.
Brenda graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.Sc. in 1993 and a LL.B. in 1996. After practising law with a Calgary law firm, Brenda left private practice to pursue a LL.M. at the University of British Columbia. During her studies at the University of British Columbia, Brenda concentrated on environmental and natural resources law courses. Since completion of her LL.M. in 1999, Brenda has worked at the Environmental Law Centre and the Alberta Energy & Utilities Board. Brenda re-joined the Environmental Law Centre as Staff Counsel based in Calgary in 2011.
Brenda has published articles and briefs on a variety of environmental law topics. She is author of Demystifying Forestry Law, An Alberta Analysis, 2nd. Ed. and A Model Environmental and Sustainability Assessment Law. Brenda is particularly interested in improving planning and other decision-making processes to achieve the goal of sustainability.
Carey McIver
Carey McIver & Associates Ltd.
Carey McIver, formerly Manager of Solid Waste for the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN), is a solid waste management specialist with over twenty-five years of hands-on experience designing, delivering, and evaluating plans, policies, programs and facilities for waste diversion, recovery and disposal. Under her leadership the RDN implemented an award-winning Zero Waste Program that reduced waste disposal from all sectors to 350 kg per capita. Organic diversion was integral to this success and at the RDN Carey directed: the development of supporting policies (waste stream management licensing, disposal bans); the implementation of commercial and residential collection programs; the construction of a food waste transfer station; and the negotiation of a long-term processing agreement with a private sector facility operator. Since starting her own consulting firm, Carey has built on this experience to develop solid waste management plans and organic diversion strategies for numerous regional districts in BC as they strive to meet their waste diversion and climate change mitigation targets.
Charles Blanc & Tristan Surtees
Sans façon
Sans façon is an art practice who work internationally on projects ranging from temporary installations in public space, large scale permanent artwork, to collaborating with design teams on major infrastructure projects or developing and implementing city-wide strategies involving artists in discourse with a city. The majority of their work tempts interaction with the surroundings and is developed in close collaboration with communities, corporations and individuals including city councils, scholars, architects, engineers and designers.
Established in 2001 in Glasgow, Scotland, the practice moved to Calgary in 2011 to be lead artists for the innovative public art project Watershed+ integrating artists and creativity within the City’s Utilities & Environment Protection department.
photo credit Erin Brooke Burns
Chris Lindberg
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Chris Lindberg leads the circular economy analysis unit within Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Plastics Initiative, which was formed to support Canada’s international and domestic leadership on zero plastic waste. This includes supporting the implementation of the international Ocean Plastics Charter and developing a coordinated federal-provincial-territorial approach to zero plastic waste.
Chris has more than 20 years of experience working with public and private sector organizations to develop and implement their sustainability initiatives, strategic plans and engagement strategies. Prior to joining Environment and Climate Change Canada, Chris worked as a sustainability professional with a variety of organizations, including The Natural Step Canada, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Golder Associates, Stratos Inc. and the Light House Sustainable Building Centre. He is a proud father of two and a graduate of Simon Fraser University.
David Schaaf
David Schaaf has recently retired from the position of Waste & Recycling Services Manager for the City of Lethbridge. He held this position from 2003 till 2018. He has been with the City of Lethbridge since 1991, working in a variety of areas including Fleet management, Facility management, and Information technology.
He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in Agricultural Engineering. His work experience involved working as a design engineer within the agriculture manufacturing sector, prior to employment with the City of Lethbridge. Responsibilities as the Waste & Recycling Manager included:
• the delivery of waste prevention programs,
• commercial & residential recycling programs,
• commercial & residential waste collection programs,
• and management of the Waste & Recycling Centre.
Dr. David Swann
Alberta Liberal Opposition
Dr. David Swann graduated from the University of Alberta with his B.MSc. in 1971; with his M.D. in 1973; and became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1988. He practiced as a family physician from 1975 to 1984 and then as a public health consultant from 1988 to 2004.
Dr. Swann was first elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the constituency of Calgary Mountain View on November 22, 2004 and is now serving his fourth consecutive term as an Alberta Liberal MLA.
Dr. Swann has a passion for nature and the environment. His hobbies include skiing, hiking, canoeing and other activities that have him enjoying Alberta’s natural beauty.
This passion extends to his political work. Dr. Swann’s career has been defined by his relentless commitment to strong environmental policy.
Recently, Dr. Swann has been advocating for the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility.
Geoff Love
Love Environment
Geoff Love is President of Love Environment has been in the recycling and producer responsibility consulting business since the early 1980s. He was a researcher with RIS in 1983 working with city of Kitchener on what some say was the first commercial scale residential recycling program in North America.
He is a co-founder of Extended Producer Responsibility Canada (EPR Canada) in 2011 along with Christina and 5 others. Geoff is the former chair of both the Pollution Probe Foundation and Friends of the Earth Canada, and so has also been active on climate change issues for over 25 years. He lives in Stratford Ontario and co-manages a recruiting firm that works exclusively in the environmental, green tech and sustainability fields.
Isabelle Couture
Plastic-Free YYC
Isabelle Couture is the proud co-founder of Plastic-Free YYC, a non-profit aimed at reducing single-use and other unnecessary plastic by inspiring individuals, collaborating with businesses, and encouraging governing bodies to spark change. Born in Quebec City, Isabelle’s passion for sustainability and citizen-led action led her to pursue graduate studies in public administration at the University of Victoria and volunteer with several community groups before taking the plunge and launching PFYYC with her co-founder extraordinaire. In her spare time, you can find her in and around Calgary being walked by her four-legged companion, experimenting with various Zero Waste DIY recipes or getting her hands dirty with her partner in their ever-growing garden. Isabelle is dedicated to developing, supporting, and enhancing partnerships in our community.
Jack Astill
Capital Paper Recycling Ltd
Jack was born in Westlock, Alberta, in 1943. He has been married to Doris for 54 years and has two children, three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Jack has worked in sand and gravel for 30 years, and in the recycling industry for 26 years. In his free time, Jack enjoys volunteering with kids sports, and he is currently coaching 8- and 9-year-olds baseball.
Jim Lapp
Tetra Tech
Jim started his career in waste management in 1980 when he got tired of being away from home for months on end to work on municipal construction projects. He applied for a job with Alberta Environment with no idea what he was getting into. As it turned out, waste management became Jim’s life-long passion. He was fortunate to be involved at the beginning of Alberta’s move to regional waste management systems and travelled to all corners of Alberta and probably visited 90% of the 600 or so old dump sites that used to dot the Alberta Landscape. In the 1980s, the focus in Alberta was to close the old dump sites and replace them with engineered facilities. In his early years, Jim got out and hand-bombed garbage on collection routes, rode along in transfer trucks, jumped on landfill equipment and gave it a good try. He jumped off the government gravy train in the later part of the 1990s and went into the consulting world until 2001, when he moved on to the City of Edmonton. There he worked at the Edmonton Compost Facility for 15 years and spent his last 2 years at the City working on environmental issues at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre. Jim retired from the City in June of this year. His retirement lasted for 5 days. He is now working in the consulting field again for TetraTech.
Over the 38 years that Jim has worked in this industry, he has seen waste management change from litter trails and smoke plumes that led him to the old dump sites to facilities that are continually more sophisticated in design and operation. In his early years, recycling and composting in Alberta was not much more that words in a dictionary and something we talked about once in a while. That is a far cry from what we have now with a different attitude of Albertans, including local municipal leaders and entrepreneurs with a focus on waste diversion instead of just landfills. Even so, when we look at the Canadian statistics, Alberta still has a lot of catching up to do.
Joe Angevine
Foothills Regional Services Commission
Joe was born and raised around the Calgary area and has worked in the waste & recycling industry for 15 years. He completed a Bachelor of Management degree from the University of Lethbridge while working full-time for the City of Lethbridge and has been managing the Foothills Regional Landfill & Resource Recovery Centre for 6 years.
Joe worked at the Foothills Landfill during the 2013 High River flood and saw the devastation and huge demands placed on the landfill after the disaster. He recently completed a Master’s Degree in Environment & Management from Royal Roads University and completed his master’s thesis: Come Hell or High Water: A Comparative Analysis of the 2013 High River Flood Response. This thesis focused on improving disaster debris management practices in Alberta.
Joe Hruska
Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Joe Hruska is Vice-President of Sustainability at the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) where he leads the development and execution of sustainability, advocacy, and partnership programs to promote solutions that increase the recycling and recovery of plastics at end-of-life and that reduce marine litter.
Joe Hruska brings to this position a wealth of experience from various sectors including steel, petroleum, commercial banking, public policy and environmental protection. For more than 30 years, he has initiated product stewardship and environmental strategy policies and programs to promote positive change to drive the circular economy and sustainable materials management.
With his trademark leadership, vision and energy, he is the driving force behind an array of priority efforts at CPIA, including strengthening domestic end markets for used plastics resources, addressing impacts of domestic and international policies on plastic products and packaging, and analysing impacts and opportunities of plastics use and management throughout Canada.
John Graham
Retail Council of Canada
For over 20 years John represented Safeway’s $5 billion business interests across Western Canada, most recently in the senior role of Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations. As part of his duties, John has had exposure to a wide range of sustainability issues, including being part of the company’s onboarding team for many waste diversion programs across the West.
In 2017, John joined the Retail Council of Canada (RCC), a not-for-profit, industry-funded association that representing more than 45,000 store fronts of all retail formats across Canada. As Alberta’s largest private sector employer, more than 250,000 Albertans are currently employed in the retail sector.
RCC and its members understand the vital link between a healthy environment and a healthy economy, and currently participate in nearly a hundred environmental stewardship programs across the country. As a director on the boards of Alberta Recycling, Encorp Pacific, and Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba, and through his participation on the RCC EPR / Stewardship Committee, John has developed an appreciation for the complexity of these issues.
John is married with two children and resides in Winnipeg – home of the future Stanley Cup Champions.
Jolanta Wagner
Strzeminski Academy of Fine Arts
Prof. dr hab. Jolanta Wagner is a Graduate of the Strzeminski Academy of Art Lodz (Diploma in 1973). Since 1974, she taught at the Academy and became a professor there in 2002.
Jolanta runs the Interdisciplinary Studio at the Faculty of Industrial and Interior Design at the Strzeminski Academy of Art Lodz. Her artistic activity encompasses the fields of drawing, painting, and installation.
Her work was exhibited at 40 solo shows and over 300 group exhibitions in Poland and abroad, earning her several prizes at the domestic art competitions.
– Grand Prix at VI International Exhibition of Portrait, Drawings and Graphics, Tuzla, Yugoslavia, 1990,
– The Prize of the President of the Town, II International Drawing Competition, Wroclaw, Poland, 2003,
– The Honorary Certificate of the Highest Quality at the IV International Drawing Biennale, Plzen, the Czech Republic, 2004,
– The Prize of the Artist Association Europe, V International Drawing Biennale, Plzen, the Czech Republic, 2006
Kari Herlevi
SITRA
Kari Herlevi is project director in Sitra’s Circular economy focus area and a multi-skilled circular economy expert. He has master’s degrees in finance and political sciences.
Previously, Kari led the Green Growth programme at Tekes, which was associated with the circular economy and had a financing volume of more than 100 million euros. He also has experience of Silicon Valley, where he had the privilege of working with the best people in the field.
In addition to the circular economy, Kari keeps busy by renovating his house and taking care of his daughters. He hopes to have time for his own hobbies sometime in the future.
Kari believes that in 2030 we will be closer to an environment-positive society in which, for example, traffic emissions have been minimised and the circular economy is reducing waste.
Laura Selanders
Canadian Electrical Stewardship Association
Laura has followed her passion for environmental protection throughout her career. Following a few years in the non-profit sector, Laura took a rewarding opportunity at CIBC, when assessing the environmental risk of business ventures was a relatively new area for the banking industry.
Laura relocated to Calgary in 1997 to join Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to lead environmental compliance programs, a role she then implemented at Home Depot and Target Canada to bring environmental compliance and stewardship together in the retail industry.
Laura is currently the President of the Canadian Electrical Stewardship Association, the industry association responsible for small appliance EPR in BC. Under her leadership the program has reduced its overall program costs, increased consumer awareness and accessibility, and is nearing the 5 million kg collected and diverted target.
As well as her undergrad Bachelor of Science degree from Queen’s University, Laura obtained the Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility from the University of Toronto and her MBA through Royal Roads University.
Laura lives in Calgary with her husband and 3 sons, and spends most of her spare time at hockey rinks where she enjoys not only the sport, but also the opportunity to improve her hobbyist photographer skills.
Leanne Olson
Artist in Residence at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre
Leanne Olson is a photo-based artist based in Edmonton. She has a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Film & Media Studies from the University of Alberta and has maintained a photography practice since 110mm film was around. Olson’s practice centres on documenting impermanence and adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Olson also has a history of engaging with the community, with experience as a lead artist in the print studio at the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts and as an ongoing community art project facilitator with the Bissell Centre in Edmonton. In 2017, she completed residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Artscape on Toronto Island, and her solo show, Last Resort, opened at SNAP Gallery. Since February of 2018, Olson has been the first artist in residence at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre.
Meegan Armstrong
BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Meegan Armstrong has been with the Ministry of Environment since 2008, and prior to that worked for 10 years with Metro Vancouver as liquid waste regulatory officer. In her current position as Unit Head in the EPR Section, she is proud to have had a role in the regulation and implementation of many of BC’s National Recognized Extended Producer Responsibility Programs, including the expansion to the electronics product category in 2012, and more recently the packaging and printed paper category.
Monica Kosmak
City of Vancouver
It’s in her genes. When Monica’s grandmother visited Canada from Czechoslovakia in the 1970’s, she ate at a fast food restaurant for the first time. There, her grandmother was stunned to see disposable dishes thrown in the trash. “All these perfectly good containers,” she thought. Her grandmother kept a foam container from her burger, tucked it in her purse, and reused it for her own sandwiches for 25 years.
So it’s no surprise that, for almost two decades, Monica has dedicated her career to the pursuit of zero waste. She started at Metro Vancouver, and then, in 2010, joined the City of Vancouver to develop the Zero Waste goal area of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan. Since then, she has managed complex, high-profile projects, including the transition of Vancouver’s recycling program to Recycle BC. Currently she is managing the development and implementation of the City of Vancouver’s Single-Use Item Reduction Strategy.
Monica is actively involved in shaping extended producer responsibility (EPR) in B.C. She chairs Encorp (Pacific)’s beverage container stewardship program advisory committee, and has served on advisory committees for B.C.’s tire, electronics, and large appliance EPR programs (the latter as chair). Monica is also a founder and past co-chair of the B.C. Product Stewardship Council.
She loves working on the front lines of the circular economy where policy and practice meet.
Omar Gatto
ETRA SpA - Italy
Dr. Omar Gatto graduated in environmental sciences with a thesis on urban waste management. Since 1997, he has worked in the sectors of integrated water cycle and waste, initially for the start of separate waste collection for over 500,000 inhabitants, then dealing with implementation of ISO 9001 quality management and ISO 14001 environmental management systems, development of new activities in the field of waste collection, management of wastewater treatment plants and waste treatment plants, laboratory controls and research and development activities. Currently, for Etra SpA *, he deals with the technical aspects related to process innovations and the structuring of a sector for the development of innovative projects financed through participation in European, national and regional funding calls.
He is also the project manager of the Circe2020 project, funded by the European Union for the development of the circular economy in production activities.
* Etra SpA is a multi-utility that manages the integrated water service and urban waste for about 600,000 inhabitants
Sarah Webb
Yes Environmental Services & Solutions
Sarah Webb is the President of YESS Environmental Services & Solutions. In this leadership role Sarah is responsible for providing her tire and end of life product management clients with customized support to meet their EPR/IPR compliance needs.
Prior to establishing YESS, Sarah led the implementation of over 88 environmental stewardship programs at Canadian Tire – one of Canada’s best known and most trusted companies. Highlights of her product environmental stewardship career at Canadian Tire include:
- Creating Canadian Tire’s centralized and comprehensive waste management program, a groundbreaking and award-winning effort that achieved $1.5 million in savings across all lines of business.
- Implementing Canadian Tire’s first centralized hazardous waste management program for FGL stores and PartSource outlets.
- Ensuring Canadian Tire’s Executive Leadership Team understood the company’s environmental compliance obligations, leading the company to transition the management of all Canadian Tire Retail stewardship and compliance programs from local Dealers to Corporate Office.
- Establishing a national program and team to support reporting and compliance programs for Canadian Tire’s (88+) stewardship programs.
Sarah graduated from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Science degree (Environment). She served for eight years as a Director of Ontario Tire Stewardship (OTS) and for five years as a Director of the Product Care Association. Sarah is committed to helping her clients find the right service and solution to meet their environmental compliance needs, including the creation of a best-in-class sustainability program.
Scott Hamlin
Looptworks
Scott Hamlin is the Founder and CEO of LOOPTWORKS, a certified B corporation design brand that creates meaningful products from excess materials. Looptworks repurposes abandoned materials into beautiful, long-lasting and limited-edition products such as bags, clothing and accessories. With industry experience at adidas AG, Jockey International and Royal Robbins, Hamlin is considered a thought leader on the circular economy from a practitioner’s perspective. His passion is focused on re-imagining product creation with a focus on zero waste and closed loop manufacturing methods. By re-using the world’s pre and post-consumer excess, the Portland, Oregon based brand aims to rid the world of waste, while inspiring a generation to reduce their impact on the planet.
In addition to leading Looptworks, Scott is involved in his Portland, OR community, serving on the advisory board for the University of Oregon’s Sports Product Program and as a member of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. He is a year round bicycle commuter and spends his free time surfing, biking, running, hiking and playing outdoors with his family.
Sean Homenick
SARCAN Recycling
Sean has worked in the non-profit world for fifteen years and currently works with SARC and SARCAN Recycling as the Manager of Communications and Culture. He received his Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan with a specialization in Marketing and Management. Sean is proud to live in downtown Saskatoon with two exceptionally lazy greyhounds.
Sean Homenick is 6’9” in height. He did indeed play basketball and volleyball. Sean orders his shoes and pants online.
Shauna Finlay
Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer LLP
Born and raised in Edmonton, Shauna graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.A. in 1995 and went on to graduate from the University’s Faculty of Law in 1999. She was called to the bar in 2000 and since that time has practiced environmental and administrative law in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.
Shauna joined Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer LLP in 2014 and carries on a practice focused on administrative law in the areas of professional and regulatory compliance, municipal taxation and assessment, expropriation, environment, and municipal law. Her clients include municipalities throughout the province, private businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals. She has appeared before and provided advice to a number of administrative tribunals, and has appeared at all levels of Court in Alberta. Shauna regularly speaks on matters related to municipal law and environmental law, and she has lectured on environmental law as a visiting speaker at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law. Shauna is also a member of the ADR Institute of Alberta holds the Qualified Arbitrator (Q. Arb) designation and has acted as an arbitrator in a number of matters.
Steph Karba
Patagonia
Steph is an Environmental Researcher for Patagonia’s Materials Innovation and Development team. She is responsible for researching and quantifying the various environmental impacts of Patagonia’s materials and working to reduce them over time. Steph has been working on environmental projects for Patagonia for two years now. Prior to working in her current position, she completed her Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Management from the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management (UCSB). There she focused her graduate thesis work on microfiber pollution on behalf of Patagonia. Steph also has a BS degree in Hydrology from UC Santa Barbara.
Teddie Geach
One Earth
Teddie is the Program Manager – Lighter Living at One Earth. She has over eight years of experience working in environmental conservation leading the scientific direction of the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program, Canada’s leading sustainable seafood program. She has completed a Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture at UBC farm where she learnt about sustainable and just food systems at the neighbourhood level. She holds a Masters of Environmental Science from the University of Toronto.
The Hon. Shannon Phillips
Minister of Alberta Environment and Parks
Shannon Phillips represents the southern Alberta riding of Lethbridge-West.
Ms. Phillips is the Minister of Environment and Parks and the Minister Responsible for the Climate Change Office. Previously, she also served as the Minister for the Status of Women.
Since taking office, Ms. Phillips has led the government’s Climate Leadership Plan which is designed to diversify the economy, create new jobs and improve Alberta’s health.
As Minister of Environment and Parks, she has been responsible for the creation of Alberta’s newest park in the Castle and a historic reinvestment in Alberta’s park system.
Raised in Edmonton, Ms. Phillips graduated with honours from the University of Alberta with a Master of Arts Degree in political science.
Timo Makinen
National Industrial Symbiosis Program (NISP) Canada
Timo has over 30 years of experience dealing with a variety of energy and environmental issues with a number of firms including Shell Canada, BC Hydro, BC Gas (now Fortis BC), and BC Research Inc. Most recently, he was the Sustainable Development Manager for Shell’s international sulphur and road bitumen businesses. His career experience includes energy project design and planning; energy economics and forecasting; integrated resource planning and DSM; GHG strategy development and implementation; carbon offset origination and verification; and project development and evaluation using such tools as life cycle analysis and multi-attribute trade-off analysis. Timo holds a chemical engineering degree from the University of Toronto, and MBA and MRM degrees from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He is a registered professional engineer in B.C., and a member of the board of the national NGO, “Tree Canada”.
Usman Valiante
Corporate Policy Group LLP
Usman has 26 years experience in the management of commercial and public policy issues involving a complex mix of economics, environmental science, law, public policy, business strategy and politics. Usman has been involved in the design and implementation of a number of extended producer responsibility based circular economy initiatives including that for printed paper and packaging in British Columbia. Usman is policy lead on the development of the plan for transitioning from shared responsibility to EPR for paper products and packaging in Ontario.
Valda Walsh
Region 6 Solid Waste Management (Nova Scotia)
With 20 years experience in the waste industry, Valda Walsh is passionate about responsible waste management. Valda is the Regional Coordinator for a board of 13 Municipalities (mainly along the South Shore) of Nova Scotia. She holds a Bachelor of Science and a diploma in Technology Management. Since June 2011, she holds the title of Environmental Professional.
Valda launched into the field of solid waste management after spending two years applying her Chemistry degree to proper management and disposal of chemicals at Cape Breton University. From there the entire focus of her career has been keeping resources from the landfill in the most cost effective way for all Nova Scotians. Valda is an executive member for the Solid Waste Regional Chairs and is currently project lead on developing a municipally-led EPR for PPP proposal for the Nova Scotia government.
Wayne Hubbard
London Waste and Recycling Board
Wayne is the Chief Executive Officer of the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB), where he is responsible for helping London’s boroughs to increase recycling rates and established the Circular London programme helping to accelerate the development of the circular economy in London. He has been working for LWARB since 2008. Prior to this he was the Head of Waste Policy for the Mayor of London. Wayne has over 20 years experience in the waste and resource management industry.
