Over an eight-year span, Emterra Environmental has donated more than $372,000 to the Niagara Health Foundation to help treat cancer patients at the Walker Family Cancer Centre. Today, in a final celebratory event, Emterra presented $27,098 to the Foundation to complete its commitment under its one-of-a-kind ‘Make Your Contribution at the Curb^TM’ program.

The presentation took place next to the commemorative rock at the start of the hospital’s wellness walking path that Emterra helped to create and included Andrea Scott, Niagara Health Foundation Interim President & CEO and Paulina Leung, Emterra’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Victor Lesnicki, Emterra as well as Julie Dermatas, Marlee Heywood and Lisa Coles from the Walker Family Cancer Centre.

Created in Niagara Region for Niagara residents, Emterra launched the innovative ‘Make Your Contribution at the Curb^TM’ program in 2012 to support health care in the Region.

“We chose to give to the Walker Family Cancer Centre, which at the time wasn’t even open yet because we wanted to help Niagara residents who were fighting cancer to receive treatment close to home and to have the support of their loved ones with them through the process,” said Leung. Until the Cancer Centre opened, cancer patients had to travel outside of the Region for care.

Through the years, Emterra’s donations helped the hospital purchase priority medical equipment used in the treatment of cancer patients.

“Emterra’s program has provided incredible support to local cancer care at the Walker Family Cancer Centre.  Thanks to their efforts, more Niagara residents are able to receive vital cancer treatments closer to home.  We are very thankful to have worked with Emterra and commend them on their community leadership and generosity,” said Andrea Scott.

From 2011 to 2020, Emterra Environmental collected blue and grey box recyclables and used batteries, as well as bulky waste, yard waste and organics, under a contract with the Region of Niagara. The contract ended in October 2020; however, Emterra continues to provide recycling services to the business and commercial sectors in the Region.

In creating the ‘Make Your Contribution at the Curb^TM’ program, Emterra saw an opportunity to connect its funding gift to the company’s mission and vision to help people be stewards of their environment. Emterra tied the donation to the amount of recyclables and batteries Niagara residents recycled each year. For every tonne recycled, Emterra donated $1 to the Foundation. While the numbers varied somewhat year over year, each year, Emterra donated tens of thousands of dollars in recognition of Niagara residents’ recycling efforts.

“We are honoured to have played a role in bringing such an important healthcare service to Niagara,” Leung said. “And through our unique ‘Make Your Contribution at the Curb^TM’ program, to give Niagara residents another reason to recycle more.”

‘Make Your Contribution at the Curb^TM’ proved so successful that over several years, it won top awards in the Recycling Council of Ontario’s Waste Minimization awards program.  “We’ve seen considerable change in recycling through the years, but what has remained constant is that people want to see their packaging and paper recycled, not disposed of in a landfill. And they want industry, municipalities and waste management companies like Emterra to work together to find solutions to improve results. We were grateful to have Niagara Region and Sunmedia to support and help promote the program over the years. This is an example of how a private sector company like ours can work with other organizations for the betterment of the community and the environment. It’s humbling and inspiring to know our collective efforts will make a difference for years to come,” Leung said.

About Emterra Group

Emterra Group comprises five divisions offering municipal and industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) customers with a fully integrated approach to collecting, processing and marketing waste, recyclables, organic waste, used tires and more. Driven by its mandate to expedite the transition to a low carbon, circular economy and increase the sustainability of its operations, Emterra is one of Canada’s most progressive users of alternative green fleet technologies in the waste management industry and consistently deploys the latest green technologies to truly “walk the talk,” including using CNG vehicles, building a network of CNG fuelling stations and operating optical sorting equipment in its recycling plants. www.emterra.ca

The ‘Make Your Contribution at the Curb^TM’ initiative, which helps to improve the environmental health and well-being of the communities in which Emterra employees live and work, is one of several Emterra Community Care^TM programs.  It donates funds to worthy community causes while at the same time boosting awareness of the need for waste reduction, enticing consumers and businesses to recycle more and linking community health to sustainability.

About Niagara Health Foundation

To learn more about the Niagara Health Foundation and how the community can help support its mission of raising vital funds for patient-care equipment at Niagara Health, visit www.NiagaraHealthFoundation.com.