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http://www.globalatlanta.com/article/22498/


Atlanta Mayor Honored at Environmental Trade Mission
David Beasley
Atlanta - 10.13.09

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin with environmental award designed by sculptor Dwayne Bass

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, addressing members of an international environmental trade mission Oct. 7, said countries must reach beyond their own borders to protect the planet for future generations.

“We are really all in this together,” the mayor told representatives of 14 companies from Canada, Germany and Uganda at a World Trade Center luncheon.

The trade mission was sponsored by the Atlanta Development Authority, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Quebec Government Office, Canadian Consulate General in Atlanta and other members of the Atlanta consular corps. It was designed to encourage trade between companies that sell products that help the environment.

During the luncheon, Reda Mansour, Israel’s consul general in Atlanta, presented Ms. Franklin the Visionary Award for International Environmental Stewardship from the World Chamber of Commerce for her environmental work during the last eight years.

Mr. Mansour mentioned the Beltline project as an example of Ms. Franklin's achievements. The project’s goal is to convert 22 miles of abandoned rail lines circling the city into parks, trails, transit and new development. “The Beltline is an amazing project,” Mr. Mansour said.

Accepting the award, which was designed by artist Dwayne Bass and made of recycled steel and leftover granite from a home remodeling project, Ms. Franklin said neither cities nor countries can solve environmental problems on their own. She illustrated her point by recognizing LaGrange Mayor Jeff Lukken, who attended the luncheon. LaGrange is near the Chattahoochee River downstream from Atlanta. Since 1993, Atlanta has spent more than $1 billion on wastewater and sewer improvements to improve Chattahoochee water quality.

“His town (LaGrange) is a direct beneficiary of the money we are spending and the improvements we are making,” said Ms. Franklin.

Likewise, expanding cooperation across international borders can help solve environmental problems, she said. “We have a responsibility to respect the earth and respect each other,” said Ms. Franklin.

This was the second environmental trade mission to Atlanta. The first, in 2008, attracted three companies.

“We started with three and now we are at 14,” said Louise Fortin, director of the Quebec government’s trade division in Atlanta. “We hope to double that next year.”

Last March, Ms. Fortin led a delegation of 12 Atlanta companies to the Americana 2009 environmental trade show in Montreal. The idea was to reverse the trade mission later in the year, bringing companies from Canada and other countries back to Atlanta to meet with Georgia companies and government officials.

Claude Hebert, president of Evolu-Tech Ltd. in Montreal was among the Canadian company representatives who traveled to Atlanta last week for the trade mission, which was managed by Greener Atlanta, an environmental consulting firm.

Mr. Hebert’s company has patented a process that uses magnets instead of chemicals to remove the limescale mineral deposits that form in the water pipes in commercial buildings.

“Scale is a big problem,” Mr. Hebert told GlobalAtlanta. “We’re talking energy loss, we’re talking pipes plugging up, breakdown of pumps.”

A high-rise building in Montreal was spending $35,000 a year in chemicals to clean its pipes, said Mr. Herbert. With his company’s system, chemical costs were eliminated, replaced by $1,500 per year for filters. The system cost about $51,000 to install.

“The payback is in about 18 months,” said Mr. Hebert.

Valentino Condina, president of Filterco Enterprises Inc. of Montreal, makes a system for restaurants that traps grease in filters that are biodegradable and can be thrown away in regular garbage. It saves money for restaurants by reducing the frequency that they have to have their grease traps cleaned. It can also help water quality by sending less grease into the sewer system.

Mr. Condina was in Atlanta hoping to generate interest in his system in a new part of the world.

“We’re looking for distributors,” he said.