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Tuesday, 14 February 2012 13:37

Abbotsford, British Columbia -- February 14, 2012 -- As the Canadian Auto Recyclers’ Environmental Code (CAREC) gains acceptance across Canada, the founding father of the Code was recognized recently by the city of Abbotsford. Neil James and his company, Ralph's Auto Supply, have been honored with the first-ever Green Leader award at Abbotsford's Environmental Leadership Awards held at the Ramada Plaza & Conference Centre.

The process to develop CAREC started over 20 years ago when Neil James was Chair of the B-CAR Division of the ARA. He was frustrated that no municipal or provincial official could explain the regulatory requirements for processing an end-of-life vehicle (ELV). B-CAR took this issue to Environment Canada and the B.C. Ministry of Environment (MoE), and with the financial assistance of these regulatory agencies and the Insurance Corporation of B.C., Ministry of Transport and B-Car, the first Environmental Code of Practice (CoP) was developed in 1995.
 
James lobbied almost every city, municipality and regional district to adopt the first CoP as a prerequisite to obtain a automotive recycling licence.  Fortunately, the city of Abbotsford adopted the CoP in a 1999 bylaw that required the 11 automotive dismantlers within city limits to be certified to the CoP. As the CoP was phased in over three years in Abbotsford, it became clear to all observers that the legitimate automotive recyclers would have no problem meeting the CoP and that illegal automotive recyclers would not meet the CoP and as such they were shut down by the Abbotsford bylaw officers.
 
The successful implementation of the AREA CoP in Abbotsford allowed the industry to demonstrate to the BC Government that a regulation similar to the Abbotsford bylaw was good for the industry.  After several years of lobbying by B-CAR and AREA, the B.C. Ministry of Environment enacted the Vehicle Dismantling and Recycling Industry Environmental Planning Regulation. This regulation requires all automotive dismantlers and recyclers in BC to have an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for their facility. The AREA CoP was easily modified to meet the new legal requirements for an EMP. AREA now has 180 members in B.C. in every region of the province.
 
The next breakthrough for the CoP was in 2008. Environment Canada included the requirement that recyclers accepting Retire Your Ride (RYR) vehicles be inspected to a National CoP. The CoP was modified by the Automotive Recyclers of Canada (ARC) so that it could be used by the RYR Program and inspections could be done in every Province.  The key to the success of Environment Canada’s program was that they provided funding for training as well as on-site inspections. Now, more than 400 automotive recyclers across Canada have been certified to the CoP and the approach has been embraced by ARC, Environment Canada, vehicle manufacturers, and automotive dismantlers across the country. Increasingly this Canadian solution is being viewed globally as very progressive and a model for other countries to follow.
 
The development and expansion of the CoP has come along way since its start over 20 years ago and the primary reason that the CoP has been successful is because of its acceptance and support by the automotive recycling industry. Without the ongoing support of the industry, the first CoP envisioned by Neil James in the early 1990’s would never have been developed or implemented.