In a cabinet shuffle announced August 18, John Wilkinson becomes Minister of the Environment.  John Gerretsen becomes Minister of Consumer Services..

John Wilkinson was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2003 as the MPP for Perth-Middlesex. He was re-elected in 2007 as the MPP for Perth-Wellington.

He was appointed Minister of the Environment in August 2010 after serving as Minister of Revenue since June 2009. Wilkinson previously served as Minister of Research and Innovation. He also served as the Parliamentary Assistant to Premier Dalton McGuinty and as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of the Environment. He was also appointed by the Minister of Finance to serve as the vice chair of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.

Wilkinson is the first Certified Financial Planner elected to the Ontario legislature. Before entering politics he founded Wilkinson & Keller Financial Planning Ltd. of Stratford, a successful small business.

Known for his lengthy record of service, Wilkinson has been very active in both his church and community. He was both the youngest president and senior member of the Kiwanis Club of Stratford. He has successfully chaired many community based fundraising efforts.

In 2002, the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation honoured Wilkinson with their highest national volunteer tribute, the Julia Award. In 2003, he was presented with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in recognition of a decade of outstanding work in helping to find a cure or control for cystic fibrosis, the leading genetic cause of death in Canadian children. In 2006, Wilkinson was named a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow for his humanitarian efforts.

A graduate of the Faculty of Music from the University of Western Ontario, Wilkinson and his wife have three children, a daughter in university and two sons in high school.

The MWA Promotion and Education Awards, sponsored by Municipal Media (Custom-built Calendars) ,  recognize the best examples of municipal creative work. Click below for the submission form for material used from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. Awards will be presented to the winning submissions at the MWA Fall Workshop in October.

Submission form.

More fundamentals training and specialized courses are being offered again by the Municipal Waste Association, with funding from the Efficiency and Effectiveness Fund.

Fundamental Principles Course: September 27—October 1

Being held at Carleton University, Ottawa

Specialized Courses:

Being held at Hockley Valley Resort, Orangeville.

Promotion & Education: October 13 to October 14;

Contract Management:  October 27 to October 28;

Markets & Marketing:  November 9 to November 10;

Data Management:   November 17 to November 18;

Full details here

If you ned more information, please contact Carrie Nash, Blue Box Training Coordinator, Municipal Waste Association.
(519) 636-8870

Email: carrie@municipalwaste.ca.

The MWA Promotion and Education Awards recognize the best examples of municipal creative work. Submission forms will be available on the MWA website starting August 3, 2010 for material used from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. Awards will be presented to the winning submissions at the MWA Fall Workshop in October. The Award categories are:

• Brochure, Pamphlet, or Booklet
• Newsletter
• Print Ad
• Calendar
• Web-based Tool
• P&E Tool – Municipal population less than 20,000
• P&E Tool – Other

Submissions are to be accompanied by a one page description and judging criteria will include general aesthetic appeal, accuracy and quality of work, and originality.

Here is a copy of the instructions sent to those participating in the June 16 webinar beng held in conjunction with the in-person Waste Recycling Strategy session In Barrie.

The organizers of the webinar being held in conjunction with tomorrow's in-person session on recycling planning have provided us with all the information that you should need to take part.

You will dial in to a conference call (647-426-1845 OR 1-866-782-8903) for the duration of the event and view the slides by internet. We recommend the use of a 'land line' telephone rather than a cell, and high speed internet, if at all possible.

Meeting Name:  Municipal Waste Recycling Strategy Workshop

Summary: A meeting for online and in person participants to help municipalities meet the WDO best practice requirement for recycling plans

Invited By: Municipal Waste Association
When:  Wednesday 16 June, 09:30 AM - 03:30 PM
Time Zone:  (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Conference Number(s):  647-426-1845 OR 1-866-782-8903
Participant Code: n/a

For assistance during the call (once you have joined the conference: dial #0

For assistance prior to the meeting, contact Clayton Sampson: csampson@wdo.ca or (519) 532-2524

To join the meeting:
http://momentum.na4.acrobat.com/r17973918/

If you cannot connect, here is the Powerpoint presentation being discussed.

Recycling planning sessions are now scheduled for Hockley Valley (May 18) , Dryden, (June 9  - if there is enough interest.)  Barrie (June 16), Sudbury (June 22), Ottawa (June 24) and there may be one in London on June 29 if there is enough interest.
There will also be a webcast-style online event in conjunction with the June 16 live session in Barrie.
If you do not have an up-to-date recycling plan and would like to attend (recycling funding is linked to having one) please go to the online registration link  you would like to participate in.

On April 1^st, Ontario Electronic Stewardship’s (OES) program expanded to include a wider range of waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE).  

As OES moves into its second year of operation, a key change to the program is in response from feedback provided by Ontario municipalities.  The requirement in Year 1 by OES for all collection sites to package and palletize WEEE materials has resulted in some Municipalities choosing not to join the program or only collecting specific, easier to handle materials.

In responding to these concerns, OES will be implementing an option for municipalities to use roll-off containers for the collection and transportation of WEEE from permanent collection sites and from collection events. 

More details here

Minister John Gerretsen held firm to his producer pay philosophy April 27 at the Annual General Meeting of Waste Diversion Ontario.

Here's what he had to say.

We have a full session on organics in addition to the regular updates, networking and trade show at this year's MWA Spring Workshop

Click here for the latest program details and registration form.

Click here for online registration

There will be three “at large” vacancies and one at-large one-year position on the MWA Board of Directors to be filled for 2010/2011.

The MWA board comprises representatives from each of the standing committees (usually, although not necessarily, the chair position), and five at-large directors.

If you are a Municipal Member interested in joining the MWA board, please complete the nomination form and fax it in to the MWA office by 5 p.m., Thursday, April 22, 2010.

Recycling planning sessions are now schdueld for Hockley Valley (May 18) , Dryden, (June 9  - if there is enough interest.)  Barrie (June 16), Sudbury (June 22), Ottawa (June 24) and there may be one in London on June 29 if there is enough interest.
There will also be a webcast-style online event in conjunction with the June 16 live session in Barrie.
If you do not have an up-to-date recycling plan and would like to attend (recycling funding is linked to having one) please go to the online registration link  you would like to participate in.

The MWA has released an interim program for this year's Spring Workshop and Annual General Meeting at the Hoc kley Valley Resort.

Latest Program

To register online, click here

Many sponsors have already confirmed their participation in this year's Spring Workshop: Norseman Plastics, Canada's National Brewers, Ontario Tire Stewardship, Ontario Electronic Stewardship, Clorox Canada, Ontario Tire Recovery, Brodie Ag & Ind/Supremex, Molok North America, Metro Group, NexCycle, Busch Systems,

Sponsor's prospectus

To sponsor online click here

During this closure CPRA will be reorganized and moved to its Port Hope, Ontario operations. CPRA will change its operations to only accept “clean, dry” polystyrene from depot and curbside operations that meet our specifications.

More here.

The MWA is contracted to E&E Fund Project #341 to coordinate the delivery of the 3 Year Ontario Blue Box Recyclers Training Program.  This initiative is a Stewardship Ontario Effectiveness and Efficiency Fund project financed by Ontario municipalities and stewards of Blue Box waste in Ontario in association with WDO, AMO, and the City of Toronto.  The MWA has been retained by Stewardship Ontario to coordinate the delivery of the training program.
 
The three courses offered this winter include: the Fundamental Principles in Recycling Planning, as well as two specialized courses, which are being piloted: Markets & Marketing and Data Management.  Those interested in registering may do so online at:
http://www.stewardshipontario.ca/bluebox/eefund/recyclertraining/
 
Markets & Marketing
February 23 & February 24
The Hockley Valley Resort, Orangeville ON

Fundamental Principles in Recycling Planning
March 1 - March 5
Georgian College, Barrie ON

Data Management
March 23 & March 24
The Hockley Valley Resort, Orangeville ON

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To renew your MUNICIPAL MEMBERSHIP please click here.

To renew your CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP please click here.

Ontario Tire Stewardship has released a Powerpoint with information on training for tire collectors.

Click here to link to the Powerpoint presentation.

The Association of Postconsumer Recyclers (APR) presents Recycling and the Economy

No charge.

Registration and more information here

Message from Kim Kidd Kitagawa, AMO PAC rep

As part of the in-kind contribution program, AMO receives a one-page flyer
produced and distributed through all Canadian Newspaper Association members
one time throughout each calendar year.

This year, we are distributing a Blue Box-related flyer and need your help
to track this flyer + help plan for next year.  Please let MWA know :
when you see this flyer (attached) in your local CNA paper (see
list) - the flyer should appear before Christmas, but I would
like confirmation.
Also, please advise what municipal waste diversion program/issue/service 
you would like advertised through this flyer in 2010??

Email mwa@municipalwaste.ca and we will pass on the information.

Many thanks for your help on this!

The membership invoices for 2010 are being sent out in December.

We have moved to an online system for membership information this year, so instead of sending you a form to fill out, you just have to click on the link below nad you will be directed to short survey. Please complete this survey, including the payment method. You’ll note that in addition to paying by cheque you have the option this year of paying directly via credit card, using our new Moneris online payment system.

We have expanded the list of contact information we request so that we can update the online Membership Directory which can be used by all municipal staff for networking and information sharing. You may recall we started this last year.

To renew a MUNICIPAL MEMBERSHIP please click here.

To renew a CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP please click here.

Request for Proposal for the Preparation of a
Composting and Operations Business Case
Closing Date 2:00 p.m. Local Time, Friday, December 11, 2009

Link to the Town of the Blue Mountains posting

In the October 27 RCO Highlights the Headlines email bulletin, there was a piece under the heading, "A biodegradable bottle you can recycle curbside". It was taken from an Earth911.com article. Given the sensitivity of the issue with Ontario recyclers, MWA staff undertook some research on the manufacturer's claims and found no evidence to support them. Contact was also made with the Association of Postconsumer Plastics Recyclers (APR) to ascertain its position. APR continues to encourage those making these claims to provide proof. None of the companies using degradable additive has a complete data set showing no harm done. Without a complete data set, no claim of recyclability with existing PET is valid, says APR. The Earth911.com website, incidentally, has added "an update" to this effect, but did not change the headline.

The winners of the 2009 MWA Promotion & Education Awards have been released by the MWA Policy & Programs Committee.

Details here.