Alberta's Approach

Alberta Environment's approach to pollution prevention focuses on voluntary actions, partnerships and education. Approaches include:

• Incorporate pollution prevention/continuous improvement messages into materials it updates and into new environmental education documents.
   
• Encourage and assist others to incorporate pollution prevention/continuous improvement messages into their materials.
   
• Initiate a pollution prevention/continuous improvement outreach program to industry, with particular emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises.
   
• Encourage utilities to take advantage of opportunities for public education and outreach by including a pollution prevention/continuous improvement message with their bills.
   
• Seek opportunities to disseminate pollution prevention/continuous improvement messages through print and electronic communication vehicles.
   
• Work with partners to develop and implement pollution prevention activities.
   

The department is investigating ways to encourage, recognize and reward voluntary initiatives from industry and municipalities. Industrial and municipal plant operators and managers of commercial and institutional facilities are in the best position to identify actions that will deliver cost savings and measurable outcomes that benefit the environment.

Alberta Environment will stress pollution prevention as a preferred approach in these innovative actions. The department's approach to pollution prevention stresses voluntary action but may eventually include integration with mandatory, regulatory requirements.

How Alberta Environment will approach pollution prevention