December 22, 2005

Conservation Minister Stan Struthers has announced $366,890 in Waste Reduction and Pollution Prevention (WRAPP) grants for 25 projects across Manitoba including $24,900 to establish an environmentally-friendly way of managing the growing volume of school computer waste to be undertaken by Computers for Schools Manitoba.

"Individuals, families and businesses in Manitoba are to be congratulated for their efforts to reduce the amount of waste materials entering landfills," said Struthers. "We can all do more and the WRAPP initiative assists many communities and businesses with worthwhile projects that help reduce waste."

Projects funded across the province include:

·         providing information on composting, green transportation and resource conservation to Manitobans,

·         improving a number of recycling programs, and

·         researching composting methods for livestock producers.

The WRAPP Fund supports improved waste reduction and pollution prevention practices in Manitoba. Priority areas are organic waste management and composting, construction and demolition waste management, pollution prevention, and model-integrated waste management system development and planning.

The WRAPP Fund is a targeted funding program under the Sustainable Development Innovation Fund. Other targeted funding programs are the Environmental Youth Corps program and the Manitoba Climate Change Action Fund.

A total of 147 projects worth more than $2.4 million have been supported through the WRAPP Fund since its creation in 2000. Information on the WRAPP Fund is available on request from the Manitoba Conservation Pollution Prevention Branch or online at http://www.susdev.gov.mb.ca.

Since 1999, Manitobans have recycled more than 323,432 tonnes of material – over 46,200 garbage trucks full of recyclable materials.  More than 7.6 million tires have been recycled since 1999.  There are 70 approved oil depots in Manitoba including 53 used oil EcoCentres which have recycled over 71.1 million litres of used oil, 8.78 million oil filters and 887,000 kilograms of oil containers.

"This fall, we also announced two additional household hazardous waste collection depots in Winnipeg to help address the high demand for proper management of these wastes," added the minister. "Manitobans continue to show they are environmentally responsible."

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Projects recently funded through the

Waste Reduction and Pollution Prevention Fund

City of Winnipeg backyard composter sale - $50,000 to conduct a truckload composter sale.
Ten thousand Earth Machine composters were sold at four different locations around Winnipeg at a subsidized price of $25.

Computers for Schools Manitoba - $24,900 to establish an environmentally-friendly way of managing the growing volume of school computer waste including expanding the organization’s waste management facilities and working with schools to reduce waste.

Hamiota and District Recycling Group - $15,000 for a curbside blue box recycling program and an enhanced recycling facility in the municipality.

Manitoba Association of Regional Recyclers - $7,290 to record the successes and challenges of recycling in rural Manitoba.

Manitoba Hydro and Manitoba Conservation provincial building energy analysis project - $8,000 to provide Manitoba Conservation with energy evaluations of 16 office buildings and identify ways to improve the energy efficiency.

Manitoba Lotteries Corporation - $25,000 to set up a composting system for all organic waste generated by restaurant services at its casinos.

Manitoba Organization of Disc Sports - $400 to reduce the overall amount of waste produced at the Canadian Ultimate Championships and prepare a manual on the waste reduction practices used for future organizers.

The Marquis Project - $24,000 to conduct research, educate, demonstrate and promote the economic benefits of composting and recycling to the institutional, commercial and industrial sectors in Brandon and surrounding communities.

Mid-Assiniboine River Conservation District manure composting demonstration - $4,000 to divert manure from the City of Brandon landfill and determine best composting methods.

North Eastern Regional Recycling Facility - $8,000 for nine durable steel recycling bins to replace the existing wood bins that will be repaired and relocated.

Paint Lake Cottage Owners Association - $10,000 to establish 10 mini-recycling collection bins throughout the park to demonstrate and promote the environmental and economic benefits of reducing and preventing waste. Currently there are no recycling collection depots within the park.

Petit Casimir Memorial school - $15,000 to extend the recycling program, started by Petit Casimir Memorial school to the rest of Lac Brochet, a remote northern community.

Resource Conservation Manitoba environmental information services partnership agreement - $25,000 to continue the development and delivery of environmental information for Manitobans on waste reduction, composting, green transportation and resource conservation.

Resource Conservation Manitoba - $50,000 for public education, tools, resources and training to boost composting throughout the province at the household, institutional, agricultural and municipal level.

Rocky Lake East Shore waste management program - $10,000 to introduce a waste management system for Rocky Lake residents including compost bins at the disposal grounds, a recycling depot trailer for transport to The Pas Recycling Centre, increased recycling and the promotion of recycling awareness through newsletters and seminars.

Rural Municipality of Edward - $3,500 for a recycling depot to service the town of Pierson and surrounding municipality.

Rural Municipality of Hanover - $6,000 to install new community recycling bins in high-traffic areas in the communities of Blumenort, Mitchell and Kleefeld.

Rural Municipality of Roland - $15,000 to construct a containerized waste-collection system as part of a waste transfer station that will divert a significant amount of waste from the landfill.

Rural Municipality of South Norfolk - $2,000 to start a glass recycling program within the R.M. of South Norfolk.

Town of Deloraine blue box program - $3,200 to revitalize the current recycling system including providing all of its residents with blue boxes, information on what can be recycled and how the recyclables are processed.

Town of Melita glass crushing project - $1,600 for the purchase of a glass crusher to reduce the amount of glass bottles in the landfill, create a useful end product and encourage more residents to recycle glass.

Town of Neepawa - $10,000 to provide residents with weekly curbside pick up of recyclable materials including blue boxes and blue bags for paper products.

University of Manitoba, Department of Biosystems Engineering - $25,000 to examine the long-term needs of normal mortality management in beef and dairy operations in Manitoba. Studies will include the feasibility of composting two or more carcasses at farms where multiple mortalities have occurred.

University of Manitoba, Department of Civil Engineering - $20,000 to demonstrate the installation of extraction wells within landfills to remove excess run-off of leachate to better protect groundwater, surface water and soil. Findings from the research will have an impact throughout North America.

Village of Waskada recycling facility enhancement - $4,000 to establish a recycling facility to divert more recyclables from the landfill.