Canada
September 30, 2011

A pioneer in agricultural stewardship was recognized for his contributions at the recent Conference on Canadian Stewardship. With the support of the plant science industry, Cam Davreux broke new ground with the creation of three stewardship programs that have gone on to be internationally recognized and replicated. For this, Davreux has been chosen as the recipient of the individual Canadian stewardship award for his outstanding contributions.

"Cam was instrumental to making the plant science industry's vision for full lifecycle stewardship a reality at a time when recycling was not yet the norm. Through this, not only has Cam had a true impact on Canada's environment, he's also been a strong proponent of establishing similar stewardship programs in developing countries," says Lorne Hepworth, president of CropLife Canada, the trade association representing the developers, manufacturers and distributors of plant science technologies.

The three stewardship programs Davreux established for the Canadian pesticide industry are:

• Empty pesticide container recycling program 
  -  87.5 million containers have been collected since the program began in 1989
• Obsolete pesticide collection program 
  -  1.4 million kilograms of unwanted pesticides have been collected and safely disposed since the program began in 1998
• Empty pesticide paper bag collection program 
  -  Over 130,000 bags have been safely returned since the program began in 2006.

These programs are some of the largest voluntary stewardship programs in Canada and have been internationally recognized and replicated.

"Cam's dedication to stewardship ensured these programs met the needs of farmers to operate in a sustainable way and opened the door for the expansion of stewardship programming in the future," says Barry Friesen, general manager of CleanFARMS, a non-profit stewardship organization committed to environmental responsibility through the proper management and disposal of agricultural waste.

In 2010, Davreux led the transition of these programs from CropLife Canada to CleanFARMS, thus enabling the new organization to pursue a broader set of programs. Davreux also played a significant role in the development of the industry's full life cycle management programming with the introduction of the Agrichemical Warehousing Standards Association, AWSA, in 1995 to reduce the risk of fires, spills and industrial accidents. Since the implementation of the program, warehouse fires have decreased by 90 per cent and today AWSA is Canada's largest industry self-regulated program.

Davreux was the vice-president of stewardship for CropLife Canada from 1989 till June 2011, when he retired. He received the award at the Conference on Canadian Stewardship in Halifax on Sept. 20 and he is the second recipient of this award.

The criteria for the award includes: demonstrated contributions towards stewardship or producer responsibility in Canada, history of advocacy for stewardship, demonstrated leadership supporting stewardship goals and visibility with government and business supporting stewardship.
 

Website: http://www.croplife.ca

Published: September 30, 2011