Business View Magazine | January 2020

341 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JANUARY 2020 REGIONAL DI STR I CT OF KOOTENAY BOUNDARY , BC There is a lot of enthusiasm and support from local government to facilitate that industry development.” BVM: Is ‘green’ sustainability being addressed? Van Horn: “The smelter’s biggest export is lead and zinc – most of the metal they extract is coming from their own mines in Alaska to Trail. And they’ve developed the infrastructure for a rail line to ship to the U.S. faster, so now all our businesses can use that rail line. It’s a clean way to transport without putting more trucks on the road. We also have an airport with flights from Trail to Vancouver several times a day. So it’s amazing to be in the mountains and have incredible access to the U.S. and global markets. “KC Recycling is a lead acid battery recycling facility that brings in batteries from all over North America. They recycle them and the lead goes back to tech; the acid gets repurposed at a new local sulphuric acid plant. We are also home to a lithium ion battery recycling facility. All of the current electric car batteries are reprocessed here. There is a lot of research going on around lithium ion battery recycling and electric cars, and we are poised to grow exponentially in that sector.” Russell: “That’s a good example of how sustainability is part of the culture in this part of the world, where we’re, simultaneously, championing environmental stewardship parallel with economic development opportunities. The metallurgical piece is one. This region has led the charge in terms of designing and implementing programs such as rural organic diversion from landfills and we’re on the cusp of new projects to ramp that up, including better management of our waste stream.” BVM: What is top of the agenda for the RDKB going forward?