Turning greens into garden gold Compost Winnipeg sees business opportunity in organic waste.
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innipeg residents could make much better use of their leftovers, Kelly Kuryk thinks. Unlike many Canadian communities that put their kitchen scraps into green bins, people who live in Winnipeg send most of their organic waste to the dump with garbage. At the same time, much of the compost sold to gardeners in Manitoba’s capital is imported from British Columbia, Quebec and the US. That’s a situation Kuryk, project
nipeg’s first recycling depots in the 1980s, collecting cardboard, pop cans and other high-value recyclables, prior to the advent of curbside pickup. Kuryk joined the centre in 2014, when it had been looking at starting a social enterprise to further its mission and develop a new funding source. She was considering starting a small business collecting compost. The centre hired her to do a feasibility study. Her environmental science background included consulting for Photos by John Longhurst the federal government, doing green building assessments, volunteering with CUSO in Chile, teaching about gardening and composting. After completing a Master’s in Education, and having children, she wanted to start a small business. “I just wanted to grow something and have an impact.” Results of the study were encouraging. “It looked pretty good at the time.” She quickly realized the venture needed equipment and a lot of capital to get going. “The first year, we weren’t sure we were going to be able to make a go of it. We were trying to do everything, with little to no budget.” Kuryk started a boutique service for offices but found she couldn’t get critical mass to expand in that market. When a competitor went Compost courier Tyrell Benton and Compost Winnipeg project manager Kelly Kuryk with bins and machinery out of business, Compost WinThe Marketplace July August 2019
manager for Compost Winnipeg, would like to change. “We’re missing a huge part of the equation,” she says. “All of the resources that just go into the landfill every day. It’s pretty heartbreaking.” Compost Winnipeg was launched on Earth Day (April 22) 2016, after developing a business plan and consultations with clients. This lean start-up grew out of Winnipeg’s Green Action Centre (GAC). Originally the Recycling Council of Manitoba, the GAC pioneered Win-
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