Outreach

The Associations’ “Second Life” kit highlights what becomes of the products. The kits are distributed to local Association representatives in Atlantic Canada as well as the CFER (Centre de Formation en Enterprise et Recuperation) in Quebec, a provincial network of training centres specializing in enterprise and recycling. Students who complete the CFER three-year training program earn a Certificate in Business and Resource Recovery. CFER attends many local events and trade shows across Quebec promoting sustainability and environmental services such as those provided by SOGHU. As part of their presentation in various trade shows, CFER and the Associations’ representatives use the “Second Life” kit to showcase concrete examples of repurposed used products.

Throughout the year, Association representatives connect with different industry and governing bodies. In 2019, in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island alone, this included four home and architecture trade shows; three municipal and rural community conferences; and trade shows for trucking, woodlands management, the fuel and fluid sector and one dealing with harbours.

The harbours around the Maritimes have berthing space for 12,000 boats used primarily for commercial fishing and transportation. This is an important industry for UOMA Atlantic as it generates large volumes of used oil and antifreeze materials requiring proper management and disposal.

Collaboration

Annually, SOGHU and UOMA Atlantic host a strategic planning session where those who work in the field, the collectors, come together to discuss the current realities of the marketplace. 

In late August, under the theme “Second Life”, UOMA Atlantic hosted the annual national Used Oil Management Association (UOMA) strategic planning session. Attending were 84 participants from across Canada including the Executive Directors, Board members and staff from every provincial UOMA.

Guest speakers talking to the theme “Second Life” included three representatives from registered UOMA Atlantic processors; as well as Mr. Jim Downham, President & CEO, PAC Packaging Consortium which represents the North American packaging industry, and Mrs. Tammy Matchette from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Mrs. Matchette talked about the fishing industry in the Maritimes and how beneficial a program like UOMA Atlantic is to the industry.

Results

Awareness builds. Volumes of materials continue to increase. And since the beginning of 2019, an additional 40 collection facilities have been added.

As of October 1, 2019, UOMA Atlantic expanded its activities to Newfoundland & Labrador and will soon do the same in Nova Scotia (January 1st, 2020). Ninety-one collection facilities have already registered in Newfoundland & Labrador with upwards of 100 completing registration in Nova Scotia months prior to the actual program launch.

Through SOGHU and UOMA Atlantic, potentially hazardous automotive waste in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces is given a “Second Life.”