Green Coast Rubbish is proud to announce that we have won the Green Award from the 2018 Better Business Bureau Torch Awards in recognition of environmental leadership in the community and customer service excellence.
“This award is a huge acknowledgment of the work our team does every day to preserve and protect the environment in our community. I could not be more proud – this team truly goes above and beyond in what they do and they truly care about our customers,” says President & CEO Eamonn Duignan.
A big part of our success at Green Coast is through innovating to find custom recycling solutions where there are no existing options in Metro Vancouver. For example:
Recently, the Vancouver Dodgeball League called us looking for an eco-friendly disposal option for old dodgeballs. We created a custom dodgeball recycling program which involved weighing the balls to provide a per piece price and devising a strategy to remove the plastic cover from the foam before recycling both materials as a Zero Waste solution.
Binders are another plastic-based product that cannot be recycled and are destined for the landfill. Green Coast developed an innovative custom recycling solution for one of our commercial clients, ensuring zero waste. 11,749 binders have been diverted away from the landfill using our new binder recycling program!
We are determined to divert hard to recycle materials away from landfills. This is definitely an area where we go the extra mile compared to our competitors.
Through new partnerships with contractors and developers including Onni, Concord Pacific, and Alair Homes, Green Coast has taken aim at construction–one of Vancouver’s highest waste producing industries which send 390,000 tonnes of waste to landfills each year. The diversion rate for our residential deconstruction projects is 90%. Diversion of construction debris through deconstruction and eco-demolition strategies has grown to over 50% of our total waste diverted or donated in 2017 including recycling of drywall, concrete, wood, and salvage or donation of cabinetry, doors, flooring, and framing.
We find inventive ways to divert furniture, clothing, materials, and goods to deserving community organizations and have formed partnerships with Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore, Salvation Army, Canadian Diabetes Association, Helping Families in Need Society, and Spinal Cord Injury BC.
In 2016, we formed an innovative partnership with Habitat for Humanity supporting their deconstruction program. This program diverts architectural waste from home renovations away the landfill, creating valuable skills building and work experience opportunities for volunteers while raising money to build affordable housing for local families in Metro Vancouver.
Green Coast has completed 9 deconstruction projects with Habitat, donating 15 kitchens as well as appliances, furniture, and building supplies with a value of approximately $22,000.
Green Coast has previously won the Green Award in 2012, 2013 and 2016 and took home the Torch Award for Community Excellence in 2017.
