Box 1639
Gibsons, BC, VON 1V1
Canada

California Resource Recovery Association board of directors,
Rob Hilton, Laura Mckaughan, Peter Slote, Monica Devincenzi,
Tim Goncharoff, Nick Lapis, Richard Anthony, Colleen Foster. Manuel Medrano
cc. ZWIA , Caroline Eader

July 17, 2018

Dear Directors of CRRA,

We are writing in regard to SWANA/CRRA ZERO WASTE TRAINING. Zero Waste Canada, as a member of the Zero Waste International Alliance, has voiced our concerns about misinformation contained in the course curriculum including the misrepresentation that there are multiple definitions of Zero Waste. There is one definition:

“Zero Waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use.

Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them.

Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health.“

We have previously urged you to revisit the content of the curriculum to realign with true Zero Waste standards. As an organization advocating for Zero Waste, we, at Zero Waste Canada, are very concerned the information contained in the CRRA ZERO WASTE TRAINING may lead to contradictory outcomes that are not Zero Waste.

Until these problems are rectified, as the Canadian National affiliate of Zero Waste International Alliance, we can not endorse your program as a Zero Waste training program and we must caution our membership on participating in this program in its current form.

Sincerely,

Barbara Hetherington,

Director, Zero Waste Canada