Thank you.
My name is Emmie Leung. I am the CEO and founder of Emterra Group.
I would like to give you a little of my history. I was born in China and raised in Hong Kong, and I got my degree at the University of Manitoba. I came to Canada in 1972 alone without family, and I truly enjoy to being in Canada, particularly Manitoba. They certainly live up to their name there of “friendly Manitoba”. I'm grateful to have this opportunity and say thank you to Canadians. I became a Canadian citizen many years ago and I'm very happy and very proud to be a Canadian.
I will go back to how I started the business. In 1976 when I graduated I could not find a job. Just like any young graduate with a lot of aspirations. I ended up saying to myself that if nobody wanted to hire me I might as well become my own boss, so I created the business. But at the time of creating a business, of course being a poor student I asked myself if I should sell lemonade or create a hot dog stand. I realized when I was looking for a job that there were a lot of available commodities in the streets and back alleys: old cardboard and newspapers. I came from a country where they would take them as resources. Immediately a light came on. I said I was going to start a business in recycling. At that time the word “recycling” was not there. They called me the junk lady.
So I went to Vancouver to start the business in 1976. I started the company and started picking up newspaper. It was a one-man-band, so I know the business really well. Now our company is a $100 million business annually, and we employ approximately 1,000 people. So I am very proud to be here to tell you the success story.
Our business is 100% the result of diverting waste and creating value. So let me give you an introduction to our business and how this business can help Canada as well as the economy. Later on I will give you some prime examples of what I have achieved and the data and then the recommendations.
Our company looks at things differently. What do we care about? We care about your discards—something you have no more room for. So we transform these discards into saleable commodities, and green energy too.
We have 17 operations in Canada: eight in B.C., seven in Ontario, one in Manitoba, and one in Saskatchewan. We have processed half-a-million tonnes of recyclables and we service close to 10% of Canadians every day. We have four operations. First is Emterra Environmental...[Inaudible--Editor]...as an integrated company, collecting recyclables and solid waste as well as processing the waste into commodities and marketing it.
The next division of our company is Canadian Liquids Processors Limited, which is a unique company. It turns liquid waste into ethanol. Another company we have is Emterra Tire Recycling, which turns old tires and scrap tires into rubber seals and fibre. And, you will laugh, because I have a landfill. Whatever we cannot recycle I am pleased to put it in the landfill.
As I mentioned, every one of our companies is integrated. We go to the customer to pick up the recyclables and turn them into finished products and then we sell them. Our goal is to work with our partner to reach their waste diversion and waste reduction in the most effective and efficient way.
Throughout these 38 years we have had lots of milestones, of course. As I mentioned, in 1976 I started the company. In 1982 I started the first operation in B.C. In 1995 I expanded into Ontario to start the company, and in 2003 we expanded into Manitoba, and last year we expanded into Saskatchewan.
In 2003 we started the largest cold climate, extreme climate, wind fleet. We have 58 CNG trucks every day on the road to collect waste as well as recycle in the city of Winnipeg. We just placed an order for another 20 some-odd CNG trucks and placed an order for another CNG station.
By the end of this year we will have three CNG stations installed and working. Fast forward to this year and we created a company called Green by Nature EPR, which services Multi-Material BC. The company's been selected to process all the recyclables in the whole of British Columbia.
As I mentioned, the company is very integrated and we see the value chain. Right at the bottom is waste and it goes all the way to creating a product that commands $2,000 in revenue, which is aluminum cans, and for some of the plastic we command $600 or $700 a tonne. Of course, I hear lots of people talk about mixed plastic being a hassle or a problem. I'm going to tell you that this is not correct. There are lots of myths out there, and we understand there are 58 containers in [Inaudible--Editor] that create lots of problem, and I'm going to introduce some innovation and share with you.
We just mentioned a little bit about Emterra Tire. In all my companies, including the liquid processing company, 100% of the waste is being recycled. There are no emissions. There's no pollution. So you have an industry of that nature. I believe every one of your decision-makers has opened their arms to welcome us, and I hope so. I count on that.
With respect to the liquid waste processing company, we take in anything you put in your mouth, or more, to the liquid waste primary, including stale products or over-production product recall, which is a confidential destruction business. After the destruction lots of people just put it back into the landfill, but we don't. We recycle all; the liquid goes through a fermentation process and into ethanol. We bale up all the packaging, just like the bottles and the cardboard, and then sell it as a commodity. Again, in this business 98% of our incoming product is being recycled.
As I just mentioned a little while ago, the ethanol is being incorporated into the diesel, creating biodiesel, and right now we are creating a new product called windshield washer fluid from the liquid waste. That is wonderful. It's a cradle to grave product.