West Coast Reduction has been working quietly over a half-century to build a truly sustainable agriculture system
You might not have heard of West Coast Reduction. That’s because this unsung hero has been working diligently in the background for more than half a century – keeping agricultural waste out of landfills by creating useful products like pet food and fertilizers, connecting canola oil farmers to growing Asia Pacific markets, and producing feedstocks for renewable biofuels to help fight climate change.
West Coast Reduction has grown from its small beginnings in 1964 to become a vital cog in western Canada’s agriculture industry. Not only do they keep food prices low by paying farmers for their organic waste, they have become instrumental in helping Canada meet its climate change targets. This important work is led from their integrated operation at the Port of Vancouver.
With domestic food security thrust into the pandemic spotlight, consumers and policy makers ought to recognize the role of this family company that we all rely on – whether we know it or not.
“We’ve been keeping the region sustainable for decades,” says Barry Glotman, president and CEO at West Coast Reduction. “But we tend to just buckle down and do the work, without saying much about it. It’s time we spoke up about the services we provide behind the scenes to support a circular economy and help put food on the table.”
From a strategic network of facilities that stretches from Vancouver to Saskatchewan, West Coast Reduction provides vital recycling services to farms, restaurants, supermarkets and bakeries, plus processors of beef, pork, poultry and fish. Essentially, the entire food system. If all the organic waste they process were landfilled or composted, the result would emit 120,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases.
“If we stopped doing what we do, the region would be left with the very real problem of handling a billion pounds of organic waste every year,” says Glotman. “To give you a sense of scale, that’s enough to fill BC Place Stadium. Our Vancouver operation alone processes an amount equal to more than half the organic waste generated in Metro Vancouver. Not many people know that.”
West Coast Reduction is also a key player in the growing arena of renewable biofuels. In fact, their Port of Vancouver operation is the only facility in western Canada capable of refining and blending feedstocks to meet stringent specifications required by refiners. And they have big plans to ramp up production. As Canada grapples with the not- so- simple task of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the timing couldn’t be better. Thanks to this company, British Columbia is now positioned as a global leader in the development and export of low-carbon transportation fuels like renewable diesel. In B.C. alone, lowcarbon fuel standards will require 650 million litres of renewable fuel annually by 2030 – meaning current demand is likely to triple in step with new environmental standards.
West Coast Reduction doesn’t just provide biofuel components to local refiners like Parkland in Burnaby, they also supply refiners south of the border in Washington State, and overseas in Singapore. Demand for this green feedstock is outpacing supply. The numbers speak for t hemselves. The renewable fuels industry is taking everything West Coast Reduction can offer. Last year alone, the company shipped 230,000 tonnes of feedstock. Next year, they plan to double that amount to keep pace with demand.
Ask around in Canada’s emerging biofuels sector, and it’s not difficult to find vocal supporters like Ian Thomson, president of Advanced Biofuels Canada.
“West Coast Reduction operates in the critical nexus between agriculture, waste management, clean fuels, and global market access for Canadian exports,” says Thomson. “Looking to the future, they will play a big role in helping Canada rebuild its national economy in the wake of the COVID19 crisis through a transition to lowcarbon fuels. To compete in the international clean fuel marketplace, we must have the ability to both process and ship biofuel feedstock. We need these guys now, more than ever.”
The term ‘sustainable’ has become something of a buzz word. But if you scratch beneath the surface of slogans and lingo, companies like West Coast Reduction are the true, unsung heroes of sustainable development. They deserve a little recognition for the work they do to protect our food system and the environment for future generations.
“We’ve always been proud of the way our business helps our partners operate in a circular model,” adds Glotman. “We’ve been practising environmental sustainability for such a long time that when the rest of the world started talking about these concepts, it seemed like a very old story to us.”