MILLER Newsletter 2015 Final with cream Small

IDENTIFY, AIM, EXECUTE
DRIVEN TO BE THE BEST
Waste Management Operations
Miller Waste Markham District
Miller Waste Systems worked around the clock with the
City of Markham’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to
clean up the aftermath of the December 2013 ice storm.
Fallen trees and power lines made servicing the residents
very challenging in all lines of business. Our top notch
Collection Service Representatives overcame the extreme
cold and difficult road conditions to service our customers.
The “brush clean up” continued throughout the year with
record breaking volumes in the municipalities we service.
This significant storm also impacted all other municipalities
we service in the Greater Toronto Area and our customers
expressed their appreciation for the extra effort and cooperation
from Miller Waste staff.
The City of Markham made the cover page of the Solid Waste & Recycling magazine December edition for achieving the highest
diversion rates in the province. Miller rolled out the program in the spring of 2013 and the results are impressive.
In partnership with the City of Toronto, Miller Waste implemented a city wide Multi Residential reroute. These changes made the
boundary lines more transparent and allowed for the rapid growth of Multi Residential Organics collection. The IC&I division also
rolled out a major reroute to accommodate growth and streamline collections. To keep up with the growth and to replace older
equipment, the district added 5 Front End Loaders, 2 Roll Off Trucks, 2 Split Rear Loaders, 1 Rear Loader, 1 Service Truck and 2
Pickup Trucks.
York Region added a ballistic separator and a third optical unit to the York Region Waste Management Center. The addition of this
equipment was designed to capture 90% of the containers which were contaminating fibres coming off the finishing screens. Our
Senior Engineer, Adrian Kleywegt, managed the project and was able to complete it in house ahead of schedule and budget. This
$2 M retrofit was the second Miller Waste has managed at this facility since it was constructed in 2005.
Kenneth to the rescue!
Below is a letter received from a Markham resident regarding a great gesture that was done by Kenneth Lusted of our Markham
Waste Group. Kenneth probably saved this person's life because of his efforts and showing interest in a fellow human being by
remaining with the individual until further help arrived.
Incidents like this separate Miller from other firms and makes us "ONLY THE BEST". We care for our residents and assist them whenever
and wherever possible as shown by Kenneth.
One of you vehicles driven or maned by a Kenneth Lusted happened to be at the end of our driveway. This ordinarily
would not have been a concern of mine except I was having a heart attack at the time but, didn't-know it.
I was out in my garage at the time and Ken witnessed me fall to the ground
and try to get up. He was diligent enough to escort me into our house were
we met up with my wife. Ken returned to his truck then came back to the
house to check on me. I think he sensed I was in great difficulty. He then
took the leadership role going through the paces to ascertain how serious
my situation was. At that time Ken told us he was a Paramedic here in.
Markham.
His training showed as he took me through some awareness exercises to see
my cognisance which I guess was not good as he suggested to my wife that
she call 911 which she did.
Ken stayed around until the other Paramedics showed up and relayed to
them what he had done and perceived. Had Ken not taken the extra initiative
to check on me the second time I'm not sure where I would be today.
I give great thanks to you and your people and we thank Ken in particular.
Yours Truely,
Kenneth William Down
Miller Environmental Corporation - Winnipeg MB
A year has passed and it’s time for another update on what has been happening with Miller Environmental Corporation (MEC).
Over the past few years the focus of our updates has been the building and commissioning of a new processing building (PB5).
Now that PB5 is fully operational the pressure has been on the sales team to keep feeding the “beast” and in turn beat up on the
operational staff. With the efficiencies that have been added it has been quite challenging and the operational team is slightly
ahead. No worries though as the MEC sales team is hot on the trail of many opportunities that will bring us the ultimate victory
over the evil operational team. Some of the potential food for the beast the sales team has secured or have been working on
are; 300,000 liters of paint related material from the paint industry, 150,000 liters of flammable liquids and solids from the cabinet
industry, 100,000 kgs of oxidizing solids from the production of sodium chlorate for the use as a bleaching agent in the paper
industry, 65,000 liters of inorganic acid from the plating industry, 200,000 kgs of lead contaminated blast media and 100,000 kgs
of waste pesticide from Saskatchewan.
Special Projects
Todd Normandeau, MEC’s Project Coordinator who played a major
role in getting PB5 up and running found that he now had some
extra time on his hands, so the sales team drafted him to help with
winning the battle with the beast. Sales secured three significant
projects this past year two of which involved “Bunker C” which is
a heavy crude oil with the consistency of molasses. This material
requires the application of heat to get it into a pumpable state, really
messy stuff, so it could be pumped into our trusty vacuum boxes that
you heard so much about in a previous newsletter. Todd was able to
manage 70,000 liters of this waste plus an additional 71,000 liters of
contaminated water in these two projects.
The other significant project Todd was overseeing involved the
removal of 50,000 liters of methanol/water mixture from a geothermal
unit. Once again the vacuum boxes came in handy moving this
waste off site and to our facility.
One last item about Todd this year, he was inducted into the 20 year
club at MEC making him the third member of this elite group. Todd
has a tremendous amount of industry experience that allows us to
utilize his skills within many facets of our organization. From customer
service to operations as well as to sales Todd has contributed
greatly to MEC’s success over the years. Congratulations Todd!
With all the great work that has been done the next need in strengthening
our position in the hazardous waste sector was the development
of a repository. Early this year Vaughn Bullough, Vice President/
General Manager and his regulatory side kick Dave Howes, Technical
Services Coordinator along with support of others entered into
discussions with the local community and government agencies that
led to the approval for the construction of the repository slated to
take place in the fall 2014.
MEC currently generates approximately 980 tonnes of bulk solid material
per month (~12,000 tonnes annually) and is steadily growing.
The addition of the repository will have a return on investment within
one year. This translates to a huge savings and allows MEC to keep
our money in our own pocket.
The sales and customer service departments will miss abusing Todd
while he helps with the project management of this huge undertaking.
The beast keeps on getting hungrier!
Todd Normandeau
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