Lethbridge, according to the City, is home to more than 2,900 businesses, institutions and private organizations. All businesses – whether large, small, family-owned, part of a national corporation, for-profit or a charitable organization fall under the Mandatory Recycling and Mandatory Organics provisions within the City’s Waste Bylaw.
Home-based businesses are exempt from the mandatory requirements, as they follow the residential waste, organics and recycling program. The bylaw requires businesses to complete an annual waste report, which was due last month and takes less than five minutes to complete.
Ward Bros. Construction Ltd. has been working to implement waste diversion measures as part of its corporate social responsibility and as part of the City’s Waste Bylaw mandatory requirements.
In 2022, Ward Bros. renovated their office space and Project Designer Christine Knitel included the design to accommodate the separation of general waste, organics and recycling for staff.
After working with a hauler to dispose of the waste generated, Health and Safety Co-ordinator Danielle Moe at Ward Bros. used the City’s free online tools and resources to meet signage and reporting requirements.
“The City of Lethbridge’s initiative started in 2024. We redeveloped our office and our designer Christine, she built in all of the recycling receptacles for us. It was a pretty easy transition for us to do. We had been recycling on our projects because we do LEED projects and we’re responsible. We want our employees to follow with us. We did the whole rebuild and it went into play with the City’s program,” explains Moe.
Moe offers a bit of advice to other local businesses and says the process is not as daunting as it might seem. “It was pretty smooth – the transition and doing the program. They made it easy for us. So, don’t worry about it. If you have somebody you can dedicate to do it in your company that’s probably the best option for you. To have somebody talk to the City and get some pointers from them. And just go with it. It’s super easy. It’s a good overall thing for your entire business to do.”
It’s good to be responsible, adds Moe. “And be a leader. I hope everybody can start to do that.”
For more information on Mandatory Recycling and Mandatory Organics for businesses, and to submit the annual waste report, visit lethbridge.ca/businesswaste.