The Woodbine Entertainment Group has been crowned an environmental champion, as it has received the prestigious 2010 Ontario Waste Minimization Platinum Award by the Recycling Council of Ontario

in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment at a Gala Celebration held last night at the Atlantis Pavilion at Ontario Place.

This award recognizes leadership, innovation and excellence in waste reduction and waste diversion. It is the third consecutive year the company has received this recognition in the Facilities Management category having earned a RCO Silver Award in 2008 and a RCO Gold Award in 2009.

"This has been an outstanding year for advances in waste minimization and continuous improvement at Woodbine Entertainment Group," said RCO Executive Director Jo-Anne St. Godard. "They have advanced the 3R principles of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle by turning them into progressive philosophies and effective programs to conserve resources, consume wisely and minimize waste across all their facilities. Their efforts are truly those of an environmental leader and waste reduction champion."

Awards winners are measured according to their achievements in reducing the wastes they generate and divert from disposal to recycling. Each is rigorously scored on their ability to prevent wastes through consumption and purchasing habits, their success in sorting and tracking generated materials to recycling and minimizing the wastes their products contribute to the waste stream.

"This honour reinforces our on-going company-wide obligation to environmental sustainability and responsible corporate citizenship," said WEG Vice-President Corporate Affairs and Corporate Social Responsibility Officer Jane Holmes, upon accepting the award. "Three years ago, when we received the Silver Award, I challenged our staff to achieve the Platinum Award. They did it! On behalf of all our employees who have embraced our over-all corporate sustainability agenda and who have made protecting the environment a top priority, we are proud of the RCO's recognition."

The Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) is a not-for-profit membership-based organization involved in policy, education and project work around the issues of consumption, waste generation, reduction and diversion and recycling (rco.on.ca).

(WEG)