W I N T E R I S S U E
J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9
- A M E S S A G E -
F R O M T H E C E O
Living customer
service everyday
A new year always brings a sense of excitement as we anticipate what may lie ahead. For Emterra, it is a time to renew our commitments to the business values that guide our company’s activities every day.
Among our corporate values we are committed to a safe work environment, employee development and diversity, and to empowering our employees to deliver quality, reliable, value-added and professional solutions to our customers.
This, of course, is not an unusual corporate commitment. But at Emterra, we are taking it seriously by initiating programs for our employees that help them keep customer service ‘top of mind’. We call it Customer-Centric.
Across the country, from British Columbia to Ontario, and into the US where we have a division in the State of Michigan, we have been bringing our family of employees together for training to introduce them to, and remind them, about strategies and actions that make customers our number one priority.
For many employees, the customers are residents and businesses who count on Emterra to do our job consistently, properly and with respect for them and their property. Our waste, recycling and composting truck drivers and collectors come into the closest contact with customers, and as such, they are the face of Emterra in so many ways. We want them to be proud that they work for Emterra and we want to be proud of them and the professional way in which they do their jobs.
There are, of course, many layers of customers, from municipal and regional governments and their representatives to industrial, commercial and institutional organizations, to service providers and suppliers, and even other Emterra employees who interact with one another everyday as the cogs of the various operations within the Emterra Group turn. Each interaction is worthy of the respect that comes from providing a quality, professional experience.
Reaction to this important initiative has been gratifying. Emterra employees are embracing the training experience and pledging to work together to improve and expand their customer-centric attitudes and actions. Nearly 100 per cent of our employees have taken our “Customer First” training course, with more than 85 per cent saying they are taking away new skills they can apply in their daily work activities.
We plan to continue our commitment to customer-centric excellence training in the coming year and we’ll be monitoring our progress toward our goal of always delivering quality, reliable, value-added and professional solutions to our customers. Many thanks to Deb Pikula, Emterra’s Corporate Director of Human Resources and our internal trainers for spearheading this initiative and to the many senior leaders and managers who made time in full operations schedules to enable employees to participate.
On behalf of Paulina and Vivian, I would like to wish our Emterra staff, customers and friends a healthy, prosperous and happy 2019. We hope you enjoy this issue of ‘Terra Notes.
Best wishes,
Our sustainability first approach
is equivalent to removing
94,535 cars
from the road annually.
Expanding our reach and building partnerships
Emterra Group and BurlingtonGreen form a partnership to increase public awareness of recycling and the circular economy in Burlington, Ontario.
Emterra Group nominated for Nature Inspiration Award
Emterra Group was named as finalist for the 2018 Nature Inspiration Awards – presented by the Canadian Museum of Nature.
The Nature Inspiration Awards recognize individuals and organizations that, through their work or specific projects, encourage Canadians to take an interest in natural history, create links with nature and contribute to its preservation.
On being nominated for this award, Emmie Leung, Founder and CEO commented; “As a service provider for environmental services, to be recognized by the Canadian Museum of Nature shows that our message is spreading past just our industry and is being heard in other sectors and by other audiences across Canada.”
This year’s finalists in the Large Business Award category include CN - who won the award - IKEA Canada, the Canadian furniture manufacture Keihauer and Emterra Group. Previous winners in the Large Business Award category have included Coca-Cola Canada, Teck Resources Ltd. and Cascades.
Canadian Plastics Industry Association awards their prestigious 2018 Leader of the Year to Emterra’s Emmie Leung
Widely recognized as a trail blazer in the Canadian recycling industry and a passionate supporter of sustainable growth and a circular economy in the waste resource recovery business, Emmie Leung, Founder and CEO of Emterra Group can now add a new accolade to her list of accomplishments. On October 3, the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) awarded her their prestigious 2018 Leader of the Year.
In accepting the award, Emmie credited her team and the many partners, customers and suppliers who were present at the event by thanking them for supporting Emterra and everything we stand for.
“The future is bright and if we continue to work together and draw from the knowledge and experience of each other we can reach our goals, work towards a circular economy and build a sustainable environment for today and for the future,” commented Emmie.
Expanding our leadership to expand our organization
Emterra Group is on a mission, to be a leader in creating and delivering products and services that enable people and business to become stewards of the environment and the future. While a lofty goal, one way the organization is working towards achieving this is by adding additional leadership to the organization. Meet our new team members!
Continuing to give and grow through Emterra’s Community Care™ program
Be it a community paper shredding jamboree, a new-to-you bike or rewarding communities for recycling more, Emterra’s Community Care ™ program has one goal in mind, to strengthen the well-being of the communities in which we live and work.
Running together for a healthier community in Michigan
Emterra Environmental USA and the Crim Festival are running away with their partnership to be leaders in keeping their communities clean and healthy.
Celebrating our cultural diversity with food
In an opportunity to embrace two of Emterra’s core values, Diversity and Community, staff participated in an extraordinarily diverse potluck lunch with tastings from 10 countries.
Welcome to the Emterra family
We are happy to announce that we have extended our partnership with the City of Sarnia, ON. The new contract includes recycling collection and processing as well as front-end ICI waste and the addition of roll-off ICI waste.
The City of Kingston, Ontario has awarded the contract to operate the material recovery facility (MRF) in its Kingston Area Recycling Centre (KARC) on Lappan’s Lane to Emterra Environmental. This new contract started on October 1, 2018.
“The combination of more than 40 years of ‘seen it all’ recycling experience and our absolute commitment to delivering circular economy services sets us apart from others in the waste management industry,” says Emterra Group’s Founder and CEO, Emmie Leung. “It’s one of the reasons why Emterra can help the City transition from a linear to a circular economy. We are firm believers that by improving recovery rates for end-of-life products and packaging, we can extend material value and utility and enable the City to maintain its relationships with reliable end markets.”
– F I N D & F O L L O W –
E M T E R R A O N L I N E
