Teck recycles 44K tonnes of hazardous waste in 2013

Christa Ford, a senior chemist at Teck Trail Operations, stands beside e-waste that will be recycled.

In the recently released Teck Sustainability Report several green initiatives stand out for the resource company including a dramatic increase by Teck in hazardous waste recycling and a decline of greenhouse gas emissions which were down some 3%.

“These performance improvements show how our focus on sustainability can drive us to innovate and find solutions that contribute to both business and sustainability performance,” Teck Resources CEO Donald Lindsay stated in the report.

In 2012, just 22,418 tonnes of hazardous waste coming from the company’s worldwide operations were recycled. The number increased 98.8% in 2013 which saw 44,559 tonnes of hazardous waste recycled.

The company also experienced a total decrease in the amount of its energy consummation. There was a drop of 3% from 46,993 terajoules (TJ) in 2012 to 45,556 TJ in 2013. At the same time, greenhouse gas emissions also went down 3% from 3,183 kilotons (kt) in 2012 to 3,089 kt in 2013.

The sustainability report also showed the frequency of reported workplace injuries fell 5.6%, while days lost to injury were reduced by 26% compared with the year before.