Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island — On June 7th and 8th, automotive recycling industry members gathered at the Rodd Hotels and Resort Charlottetown in Charlottetown, P.E.I. for the Automotive Recyclers Association of Atlantic Canada (ARAAC) annual meeting.
During the two-day event—which saw 60 attendees—topics covered included green recycled parts, insurer-repairer-recycler relations, electric vehicles (EVs) and much more.
The event kicked off at 4:00 p.m. on the 7th, with an ARAAC Board of Directors Meeting. Following this, guests met for a reception in the hotel restaurant, where new and familiar faces alike had the opportunity to connect.
On June 8th, the day began with a buffet breakfast. From here, panel discussions occurred featuring talks from Luke Gamm from Car-Part, and Micheal Angeli from Hollander, who both highlighted changes in or coming to their inventory management systems and part procurement systems.
Additionally, Wally Dingman, Canadian Automotive Recyclers Environmental Code (CAREC) Auditor for Atlantic Canada, presented some of the highlights from last season’s CAREC Audits, as well as what to expect in his audits starting on June 24th. During his presentation, Dingman noted that members are currently scoring at 85 percent or better—the only association in Canada to do this.
Finally, Steve Fletcher, Executive Director, Ontario Automotive Recyclers Association (OARA), gave an overview of the Automotive Recyclers of Canada’s (ARC) activities, focusing specifically on the effect of EVs on the industry; plastic bumper recycling research, and OARA’s Green Recycled Parts study showing the GHG savings with re-using auto parts.
Alongside attendees, Hollander, Car-Part, IAA, Copart and Atlantic Oil all had display booths in the meeting space to talk directly to recyclers, answer any questions and demonstrate their products.
When speaking with Steve Fletcher, he commented that the “biggest highlight [of the event] was the presentation by Charles Bottomley and Elizabeth Kepes from Intact Insurance discussing Intact’s Sustainability Plans and how auto recyclers fit in. They also participated in an open panel discussion with recyclers and repairers discussing the opportunities and challenges with accessing more recycled parts on their estimates.
Towards the end of the event, attendees also had the opportunity to tour Dalbert Livingstone’s, ARAAC Vice President, Island Auto Supply, where the event then closed with a classic summer barbeque.
Elected to the ARAAC Board of Directors were: Candice Brown from Brown’s Auto Salvage; Devon White from A-1 Automotive and Larry Rushton from Sunrise Salvage. They join Dalbert Livingstone from Island Auto Supply (Chair/Treasurer); Andrew MacDonald from Maritime Auto Parts (Vice Chair); and Derek Covey from Covey’s Auto Recyclers (Immediate Past President).
Check out exclusive photos and videos of the event below as well as notes from Intact Insurance’s full talk.
Intact’s Purpose & Values:
At Intact, we are focused on helping people, businesses and society prosper in good times and be resilient in bad times. We believe in helping society and we work with organizations who are helping to make our communities more resilient. For example, in 2015, we advanced our partnership with the University of Waterloo helping to establish the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation.
We are a purpose-driven business, guided by our values. Our ESG and Corporate Responsibility strategy connects with our Value of Generosity, specifically, helping others, protecting the environment and making our communities more resilient.
At Intact, we believe that respecting and protecting the environment is fundamental to the well-being of the communities where we live and work.
We also believe that as Canada’s largest provider of home, auto and business insurance, we have an important role to play in helping Canadians adapt to climate change and assisting communities in preparing for long-lasting changes in weather patterns.
We are committed to being environmentally responsible in our operations and encouraging the awareness and responsibility of our employees on environmental issues.
In the spirit of being environmentally responsible, we believe that increasing the use of recycled parts in the Rely Network is the logical next step in our ESG journey and the right thing to do.
Intact’s Auto Sustainability Plan:
At Intact, we respect the environment and its finite resources. We recognize the need for Canadians to gain a better understanding of this issue and how they can adapt to the new realities it has created. We also recognize the benefits of protecting and preserving our environment. Because of this, we are committed to integrating sustainability considerations into the operations of our business.
Carbon Emissions:
Comparing the processes of repairing parts vs. replacing a part with a new OEM or aftermarket part vs. replacing a part with a used part, we can see that the repair process contributes to the lowest carbon emissions while parts replacement using a new part contributes to the highest carbon emissions. The use of recycled parts contributes the the 2nd lowest carbon emissions.
Intact’s Climate Strategy includes:
Our commitment to a net zero carbon footprint by 2050. We are doubling down on helping people adapt to climate change – this ties to our partnership with the University of Waterloo and the creation of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation. We want to educate and influence customer behaviour to reduce their carbon footprint. For example, it if Intact can educate our customers on the benefits of using recycled parts we may change some attitudes and debunk some myths.
By supporting existing industries such as the collision repair industry and the auto recycling sector, we can facilitate a transformation within these sectors.
And we can’t do it alone. This strategy hinges on collaboration across government and industry leaders to move forward and deliver change at the pace needed to achieve our net zero ambition by 2050.
2050 seems far into the future but our journey begins today and we won’t take our foot off the gas until we achieve our goal.
