Surrey Board of Trade

The Environment, Your Business and the Economy Lunch

Presented by 4Refuel, Supporting Sponsor Plutonic Power Corp.

The presentation of the 2008 Surrey Board of Trade Environment & Business Achievement Award, was part of a lunch time event by the Surrey Board of Trade that saw a panel of speakers discuss environment issues.

The panel, moderated by Surrey Board Environment Committee Chair, Mike Boehm (also with KPMG LLP), offered three perspectives on the business opportunities inherent in going and being green. The first speaker, Frank Came, Senior Advisor, Strategic Initiatives for the GLOBE Foundation of Canada, currently seconded to the BC Environment Industry Association, spoke of environment industry initiatives, and local businesses who are creating leading-edge technologies right here in BC; the second speaker, Donald McInnes, Vice Chairman and CEO of Plutonic Power Corp. spoke about the opportunity in Run-of-the-River hydro generation and the role of independent power producers in BC; Maarten den Outen, Trade Commissioner for the Netherlands rounded out the panel with a presentation of how the Dutch Government's remediation of soil from an environmental disaster gave rise to a thriving industry, the technology from which is now working around the world.

The Winner of the 2008 Surrey Board of Trade Environment & Business Achievement Award:

Mark Kurschner - Product Care Association

Accepting the award on behalf of the Association was Dick Glassford

Each of the Product Care's provincial stewardship programs (BC, SK, NS) provides province wide collection system which allows consumers to drop off leftover paint (BC, SK, NS), flammable liquids (BC), pesticides (BC), gasoline (BC) free of charge. These collected products are then managed (recycled/disposed) in an environmentally friendly manner utilizing the 3R's (reduce, reuse, recycle). They not only recycle the products collected but also their (ie empty metal, plastic paint and solvent cans, empty gas cans). Product Care's communication program includes point of sales information for the public identifying the BUD rule: Buy only the amount you need - Use what you by - Dispose properly at a Product Care collection depot. For the year 2007 (BC program only) over 9.755 gallons of paint was given away for reuse thus saving Green House gasses which would be generated if this paint had to be manufactured from raw materials.