WESTLOCK – After seven years as manager of the Westlock Regional Waste Management Commission (WRWMC), Tom Moore has called it a day.
The 64-year old “industry expert” decided to officially retire at the end of June from the WRWMC after taking a leave of absence earlier this spring.
WRWMC board chair Curtis Snell said June 29 they held a special meeting earlier that day where the commission received and accepted Moore’s resignation, “with his retirement date effective June 30, 2023.”
Snell said they thank Moore for all his work and wish him all the best and confirmed that Jared Anderson will continue as acting manager, “in the operations for the time being, right now.”
Moore, who has more than 15 years in the waste/recycle business, took over as manager July 1, 2016, and moved here from Slave Lake where he worked for several years as the debris waste manager, including during the devastating 2011 Slave Lake fire.
“I am going to miss the place, the people, the commission. I’m going to miss the whole thing,” said Moore, in a sit-down interview July 4, noting although he’s officially retired he will continue working in industry “when available” on a part-time basis. “I’ve started my own consulting business for small, rural, remote sites to do similar (work).”
Moore is retiring for personal reasons and left on good terms with the board.
“It was just a decision that I made and my family made because this summer I wanted to do a few more things with them. The timing was right,” he said, noting he originally planned to retire in October. “We felt that we had a good guy that could take over. He has lots to learn, but we had (Anderson) who could take over.”
Hired late last fall as an assistant manager, Anderson began working with the commission Jan. 1, 2023 and has worked for GFL (Green For Life) in Edmonton with several years of experience in the industry.
“That’s unique in my industry. Usually a manager will retire and (they’ll) have very little notice,” explained Moore, noting Anderson’s six months of on-the-job training. “We felt he had the abilities and can take it to the next level. He’s got a lot of good thoughts and ideas. There’s always something to learn and Jared knows he can call me anytime.”
During Moore’s tenure, management, administration, and supervision of the landfill moved from Westlock County to the commission as its own entity, with Moore pointing out several notable accomplishments.
“I think the big thing is the board was and still is, forward thinking. They’re looking long-term, not short-term, which in a commission can be a challenge because usually they’re just looking at their tenure, not the long-term,” he said. “So there was a lot of changes made with long-term goals in place.”
Moore said the goal of the commission has always been to increase recycling, diversion, reduce landfilling and make the landfill last longer, which is something they’ve achieved.
“Everything we’ve done out there was to help with that but also to help keep them financially stable,” he said. “There’s a lot of things we had to look at to make it a viable business.”
Other positive changes included increasing pay for employees, creating a draft for a five -year, 10-year and 25-year strategic plan and a five-year business plan.
“I wanted all that done before I retired anyway. I wanted to have a strategic plan in place, a business plan in place,” he added noting most of the commission’s goals in the previous five-year strategic plan from 2015 have been met.
Several other of Moore’s accomplishments include the installation of an HVAC dumping station, the expansion of recycling, the partnership with the Alt Root composting facility and adjustments to the cell design and structure at the landfill, which has drastically extended the lifespan.
“The (Alt Root) facility was built at no cost to the commission or no cost the tax payers, Alt Root paid for all that but it’s a partnership. Diverting food waste, grass, leaves, trees, branches, and organic (material), that was huge,” explained Moore. “Current cells that we’re active on right now have about eight to 10 years on just those cells but overall, we’re talking 75 to 100 more years that we’ve added to the facility. That’s just making some changes in design, changes in operation and changes in things like recycling.”
To put it in perspective, when Moore was hired they just started a brand new landfill cell and at that time they were averaging about four to five years per cell. “I’ve been there seven years and I haven’t had to dig a new cell yet and we still have about seven or eight more years to go.”
Moore said he always enjoyed the ever-changing nature of the industry and the challenges that come with it, pointing out his work earned him an Emerald Award “for diversion and recycling” as much as they could from the Slave Lake fire.
“We recycled or diverted as least 80 per cent of the waste,” he said. “It was a team effort and the same here (in Westlock County). It wasn’t me that made these changes, it was the board that supported it and I just had to figure out how to make it happen, go that route and staff and everybody else did the work.”
In sharing some words of wisdom and advice for his successor, Moore encourages Anderson to look for unique solutions.
“Don’t get stuck in a rut because that’s how everybody else does it. Focus on other ways of doing things, think outside the box,” said Moore. “Always consider cost but also consider alternatives to make it work and accept failure. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve had disasters and I’ve had things happen and I accepted that. I know some very successful business men and women and they always said they learn more from their mistakes and failures than anything else.”
