Barry Friesen is Executive Director of Cleanfarms Inc. and has been at the helm since its launch in 2010. A professional engineer who has worked for years in the waste-resource management business, he continues his mission to eliminate waste in our society. Cleanfarms is an industry stewardship company responsible for managing the collection, recycling and safe disposal of agricultural waste across Canada. Think of Cleanfarms as the ‘blue box’ for agriculture, but with six distinct core programs plus an array of pilots that span the entire country.
Barry is uniquely qualified to lead this undertaking. He’s been deeply involved in solid waste issues since 1995. As Solid Waste Resource-Manager in Nova Scotia, he launched the province’s waste management strategy and led it to become the first & only Canadian province to achieve 50% waste diversion by 2000. As Director of Waste Management Services with Niagara Region in Ontario, he managed provision of comprehensive waste services to 100,000+ households in a recognized world-leading program. His range of expertise is on demand at international meetings such as the OECD Conference on Rural Development where he presented an update in 2022.
Barry currently serves on the Board of the Conference on Canadian Stewardship and as a member of the AGRI plastics working group of the European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisations. He is the past chair of the Board of the Compost Council of Canada, past Board member of the Recycling Council of Ontario and APRG, past Chair of the National Task Force on Packaging and past Board member and very active contributor to his local Rotary Club.
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