Members of the team from Thai Hang collect the restaurant’s Waste Wars award from Marion Town director of environment at YVR. The restaurant achieved a perfect score in the competition.
If you’ve recently travelled through YVR, you may have noticed the lack of traditional garbage can receptacles. Instead, the airport’s terminals are lined with bins intended for sorting waste into recyclable categories.
YVR’s Environmental Management Plan, which provides the framework for the organization’s environmental initiatives, has outlined a goal of diverting 50 per cent of YVR waste from landfill.
In 2018, YVR surpassed this target three years ahead of schedule, achieving 51 per cent waste diversion.
One of the initiatives that helped YVR achieve this goal is an annual Waste Wars competition. Held every year since 2015, Waste Wars pit tenants against each other in a bit of friendly competition to see who can best separate their waste.
The Waste Wars competition rules are simple: organic waste belongs in the green bin; plastics, paper and metals in the recycle bins; and the remaining in the garbage.
Every week, tenants’ bins are inspected, with points allocated based on the level of appropriate separation. The better a tenant separates its waste; the more points are scored.
The tenant with the highest score is deemed the overall winner.
Fairmont Vancouver Airport team receive the Waste Wars overall title award for Globe@YVR from Marion Town (far right), director of environment at YVR.
The winners of the 4th annual Waste Wars competition displayed exceptional commitment to waste reduction and are now the exclusive holders of the Waste Wars crown.
In the Restaurant Category, Globe@YVR (Fairmont Vancouver Airport) took the title.
In the Quick Service category, Thai Hang wound up the champions. Thai Hang’s triumph was especially notable for the fact that they achieved a perfect score, having not a single cup, straw or napkin out of place.
