Barry Friesen Honoured as Circular Champion for Farm Recycling Career

The Recycling Council of Alberta has honoured recently retired Cleanfarms Executive Director Barry Friesen with its prestigious Rs of Excellence Circular Champion Recognition Award, recognising a career spent building a more sustainable, circular future for Canadian agriculture.

Announced on 23 October 2026, the award reflects Friesen’s career-long commitment to keeping agricultural materials out of landfills, according to the Recycling Council of Alberta (RCA). Friesen and the other award recipients will be recognised at the RCA Annual General Meeting, held online from 10:30 a.m. to noon on 6 November 2026.

A career built on producer responsibility

During Friesen’s tenure, Alberta’s small container programme — the first in Canada — grew significantly, along with other programmes across the province and the country, according to Cleanfarms Executive Director Shane Hedderson. Friesen helped build programmes and partnerships in producer responsibility and agricultural plastics recovery, said RCA Executive Director Jenn Koole.

Cleanfarms is an agricultural industry stewardship organisation funded by its members in the crop protection, seed, fertiliser, animal health medication, peat moss, animal bedding, feed, agricultural plastics and maple tubing industries. Its team works across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.

What the award recognises

“I’m very proud to be part of this transformative industry, and to receive this honour from the RCA: one of the great champions of circular economy in Canada, playing a pivotal role in job creation while helping to keep our environment clean,” Friesen said.

“We’re delighted to recognise Barry’s remarkable contributions to agricultural recycling in Alberta,” Koole said. “Through his leadership in producer responsibility and agricultural plastics recovery, he helped build programmes and partnerships keeping valuable materials out of landfills. That’s a legacy that lives on in recycling systems and agricultural stewardship here in Alberta and beyond.”

“It’s fitting this announcement coincides with Waste Reduction Week,” Hedderson said. “Barry has dedicated his career to improving waste diversion efforts for Canadians, both on and off the farm, and all of us at Cleanfarms are proud of Barry for this well-earned award.”

A legacy in numbers

Friesen retired as Cleanfarms Executive Director on 2 April 2026, after guiding the organisation to a comprehensive stewardship model for Canadian agriculture. Cleanfarms now runs 10 programmes helping farmers recycle agricultural plastics and products, operates more than 1,500 collection sites across Canada, and reports that its flagship recycling programme for pesticide and fertiliser containers under 23 litres consistently achieves a recovery rate above 80 per cent.

Key facts

• Award: Rs of Excellence Circular Champion Recognition Award, Recycling Council of Alberta
• Recipient: Barry Friesen, retired Cleanfarms Executive Director
• Announced: 23 October 2026, during Waste Reduction Week
• Formal recognition: RCA Annual General Meeting, online, 6 November 2026, 10:30 a.m. to noon
• Legacy: Alberta’s small container programme, the first in Canada; 10 Cleanfarms programmes; more than 1,500 collection sites

Turning farm plastic waste into a resource is part of a wider circular-economy story: read how waste plastic is being turned into new materials in our earlier coverage of plastic recycling innovation.

Source: Recycling Council of Alberta announcement, 23 October 2026, with career context from Cleanfarms reporting.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Barry Friesen?

Barry Friesen is the recently retired Executive Director of Cleanfarms, Canada’s agricultural industry stewardship organisation, who led its work on recycling agricultural plastics and packaging.

What award has he received?

The Recycling Council of Alberta’s Rs of Excellence Circular Champion Recognition Award, recognising exceptional work advancing waste reduction and the circular economy in Alberta.

When will he be formally recognised?

At the Recycling Council of Alberta Annual General Meeting, held online from 10:30 a.m. to noon on 6 November 2026.

What did Friesen achieve at Cleanfarms?

He helped grow Alberta’s small container programme, the first in Canada, and build producer-responsibility programmes and partnerships for agricultural plastics recovery across the country.

What is Cleanfarms?

Cleanfarms is a not-for-profit agricultural industry stewardship organisation that recovers and recycles agricultural plastics, packaging and products, running 10 programmes with more than 1,500 collection sites across Canada.