ERA Environmental Hosts SP’s 3rd Quarter Meeting in Montreal

The 3rd Quarter meeting of Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) was held on July 17-18, 2018 at ERA Environmental Management Solutions in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

On the afternoon of July 17, SP members and partners participated in a meeting of SP’s Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) Forum. Co-chaired by Greg Rose (FCA US LLC) and Jack Nunes (Lear Corporation), the EHS Forum is designed to provide a platform for deeper discussion, networking and exchange of ideas on key EHS challenges and opportunities facing multinational automakers and their suppliers.  This meeting included discussion on OEM / supplier collaboration on sustainability goals facilitated by Kevin Butt (Toyota) and finding solutions for hard to recycle materials facilitated by Steve Hellem and Kellen Mahoney (SP). Later that evening, ERA hosted a networking reception for SP members at Montreal’s Molson Coors Brewery followed by a walking tour of Old Montreal.

     

On July 18, SP’s Chair Randy Leslie (Johnson Controls) and meeting hosts Gary Vegh and Sarah Sajedi (ERA) welcomed SP members to the SP 3rd Quarter Meeting of 2018.  SP membership meetings provide an opportunity for members to share environmental best practices and strategies with their industry peers, learn about emerging issues impacting the environment and their business operations, and to identify opportunities for collaborative action through SP.

Guest speaker Dr. Hamdy Khalil (Woodbridge Group) kicked off the morning’s discussion with a presentation on sustainability trends in the automotive industry which was followed by a session on North American voluntary partnership programs including presentations on the Energy Star Industrial Partnership Program by Donna Arts (Natural Resources Canada),  the SmartWay partnership program by Pierre Courville (Natural Resources Canada), and SP’s Alianza Verde Automotriz (AVA) initiative in Mexico by Don Harris (AVA).

  

The July 18 meeting also included reports and discussions regarding SP working group projects on topics including biodiversity, chemical process management, EHS and materials efficiency with speakers including Georgina O’Farrill (CEC), Ariel Broca (ERA Environmental), Susan Rokosz (Ford), Bridget Burnell (General Motors), Susan Kelsey (General Motors), Alissa Yakali (Honda), Jean-Luc Lavergne (Lavergne Groupe), Kevin Butt (Toyota), Mark Yamauchi (Toyota) and Sam Qureshi (Waste Management).

The meeting concluded with a panel discussion on increasing industrial energy efficiency in North America through ISO 50001, including presentations from David Donaldson (CEC), Bill Meffert (Georgia Institute of Technology), Andrew Hejnar (3M Canada), Bob Fraser (Natural Resources Canada), Stephanie Ruiz Lopez (CONUEE) and Paul Scheing (US DOE).  Following the meeting, ERA and Miel MTL also provided a demonstration of removal of honey from ERA’s on-site beehives.

    

Special thanks to Gary Vegh, Sarah Sajedi and the entire ERA Environmental team for their support in hosting this meeting. SP’s 4th Quarter Meeting will be held on October 23-24 at the Johnson Controls Pro Football Hall of Fame Village in Canton, Ohio Please contact us if you’d like more information, or click here to learn more about SP membership.

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