At KBL, environmental sustainability is embedded in how we plan, operate, and deliver work across every region we serve. From managing hazardous and non-hazardous waste to treating contaminated soil and water, recovering resources, supporting remediation, and reducing landfill reliance, our environmental sustainability approach is practical, measurable, and rooted in responsible execution.
Waste diversion is central to our environmental mandate and is integrated across every service we deliver. Our work focuses on reclaiming, recycling, treating, stabilizing, and beneficially reusing materials that would otherwise be destined for final disposal. These efforts help conserve natural resources, reduce pressure on landfill capacity, lower the environmental impact of waste transportation, and support the transition to a circular economy.
Through our network of hazardous waste transfer facilities, soil treatment facilities, recycling programs, and project-based waste management services, KBL manages a wide range of regulated materials safely and in compliance with applicable requirements. Where possible, materials are segregated, consolidated, treated, recycled, or directed to beneficial reuse pathways instead of disposal. Metals and other recoverable materials are separated and returned to the market, reducing the need for extraction of virgin resources and transforming potential liabilities into secondary resources.
KBL’s Soil Treatment Facilities support waste diversion by treating, stabilizing, and repurposing contaminated soils. Depending on treatment outcomes and regulatory requirements, treated soils may be beneficially reused, including as alternative daily cover, reducing the need for new material extraction and extending landfill capacity. KBL’s soil treatment and bioremediation facilities are specifically used to receive contaminated soils that can be treated to levels approved for beneficial reuse.
KBL also supports responsible water stewardship through water treatment, dredging, dewatering, and project-based water management services. These services help clients manage contaminated water, sediments, sludges, and fines in ways that reduce environmental risk and support compliant discharge, treatment, reuse, or disposal. KBL’s broader service portfolio includes water treatment and management, dredging and dewatering, sludge processing, contaminated soil and bulk solids transportation, and remediation services.
In 2025, KBL strengthened the consistency and scope of waste-diversion tracking across facilities, field services, logistics, and project-based operations. This expanded reporting provides a more complete view of materials treated, recycled, recovered, beneficially reused, or otherwise diverted across KBL’s operations.
KBL’s 2025 waste diversion story is not only about totals — it is about strengthening the systems and partnerships that make diversion possible. This includes expanding beneficial reuse pathways, improving waste characterization and tracking, supporting circular economy solutions, and helping clients reduce reliance on landfill and disposal. KBL’s Technical Services group also supports this work through waste residuals management, circular economy solutions, contaminated soil and water treatment, sludge stabilization, and waste reduction strategies.
In the North, KBL’s Enterprise Metals Transfer Facility supports safe and efficient management of recyclable metal waste. Metals are depolluted or decontaminated before arriving at the facility, helping ensure environmental compliance while maximizing resource recovery. The facility plays an important role in diverting metals from landfills and supporting large northern remediation projects, including Giant Mine.
In 2025, KBL recycled 1,080 tonnes of scrap steel through the Enterprise Facility. By consolidating and recovering recyclable metals in the North, KBL helps reduce landfill pressure, supports regional waste solutions, and returns materials to productive use.
In 2025, KBL continued advancing circular economy solutions by identifying beneficial reuse pathways for industrial residuals that would otherwise require disposal. These initiatives support KBL’s broader commitment to waste diversion, resource recovery, and sustainable materials management.
A key example is the beneficial reuse of bottom ash: in 2025, KBL supported the movement of approximately 120,121 tonnes of bottom ash to approved beneficial reuse and residuals management pathways, reducing reliance on landfill disposal and supporting circular economy outcomes.
KBL continues to lead in post-consumer paint recycling, operating Western Canada’s only dedicated paint recycling facility. Paint recycling supports KBL’s goals to reduce landfill-bound waste, recover usable materials, and eliminate improper disposal of products with potential environmental impacts.
KBL also continued to support other beneficial reuse streams, including 5,525 tonnes of sawdust used at hydrovac receiving facilities for stackability and 506.11 tonnes of lime kiln dust directed for agricultural use. These projects demonstrate how KBL works with clients to turn difficult residuals into practical inputs for industrial, agricultural, and waste management applications.
KBL’s commitment to climate action is embedded in how we operate and in the value we deliver to our clients. Through beneficial reuse programs, circular economy initiatives, logistics optimization, local treatment options, and landfill diversion, we help reduce the environmental footprint associated with waste management, remediation, and long-distance hauling.
In 2024, KBL established a baseline for tracking energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions across facilities, transportation, and equipment use. In 2025, we advanced this work by actively tracking emissions data across our operations, improving the consistency of fuel and energy reporting, and using the information to identify high-impact opportunities for reduction.
As part of this continued commitment, KBL joined Canada’s 2030 Challenge, reinforcing our focus on measurable climate action and alignment with national emissions reduction goals. Canada’s climate targets include reducing emissions by 40–45% below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, and KBL’s internal climate work supports this broader direction through practical, operations-based improvements.
KBL’s emissions strategy is built on continuous improvement, practical innovation, and collaboration with clients and partners. By strengthening internal tracking in 2025, we are better positioned to set reduction targets, monitor progress, and guide future investments in fleet efficiency, idle time reduction, facility-level energy performance, waste-to-resource projects, and lower-carbon logistics.
KBL continued its focus on reducing unnecessary engine idling and improving operational efficiency across its fleet and field operations. These efforts support both environmental and financial performance by reducing fuel consumption, lowering emissions, and reinforcing driver and operator accountability.
KBL also continues to pursue project-based opportunities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions for clients and communities. For example, KBL’s waste oil recycling business case identifies opportunities to reduce emissions by recycling waste oil locally, reducing the need to transport waste oil to southern recycling facilities, and displacing imported virgin fuels for local use. These types of circular economy solutions demonstrate how KBL’s services can support both operational emissions reductions and broader client ESG goals.
KBL is constantly looking for opportunities to hear from, and work with forward thinking people and organizations. Reach out today!
