2023 Schedule

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Asset Management in The Circular Economy

Presenter: Neil Abercrombie
Technical Director, Municipal Water, Veolia North America
Description:
The traditional economy is linear. Raw materials are extracted from the natural world, processed into commodities, transformed into manufactured goods which are consumed and eventually discarded into the environment. This is also known as “Take-Make-Waste”. There has been some evolution of this economic model over the last three decades to capture and recycle some of the waste, known as the “re-cycle economy”. Broad acceptance of an environmental crisis as a result of man-made climate change and buildup of waste in the environment is providing a catalyst to transition to an economic model where where resources are kept within the human ecosystem, everything is reused and minimal virgin material extracted from the natural environment, this is called the “circular economy”. Asset Management practices were developed within the context of the linear (Take-Make-Waste) economy and have evolved with the recycle economy. A strength of asset management is that it breaks silos; crosses organisational and functional boundaries and helps to coordinate resources towards common goals. This paper examines case studies from the emerging circular economy to identify asset management challenges within that way of doing business. Asset management practices which could strengthen the circular business model will be considered as well as where asset management thinking and practices may have to develop. Case studies examined include: lighting provided as a service, an alternative to managing lighting maintenance in commercial spaces; recovery of exotic metals and other materials from depleted electric vehicle (EV) batteries; and sulfuric acid regeneration from the petrochemical industry. In the circular economy, Asset Managers will need to widen their view of what is considered as an asset, and the asset management community must reach out and strengthen connections with environmental and supply chain professionals.
About the Presenter:

I trained as an engineer in the 1980’s in the British Merchant Navy. I later studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Glasgow (Scotland) and switched industries to work for Thames Water, the UKs’ largest water company, through their graduate program. This turned out to be an excellent foundation in Asset Management as they put me to work in every department of the water utility and I experienced every part of the asset management landscape. At that time Thames Water were beginning to explore the benefits of an Asset Management approach as a way to challenge the organisational silos within the company. Since then, I have developed my career in the water industry working on four continents and within multiple cultures. I have worked in many parts of the Asset management Landscape including: Operations; Maintenance; Program Management; Project Management; Commissioning; Procurement; and Operational Readiness. Reliability is baked into facilities during design and I have worked on many major wastewater upgrade projects where I brought operations and maintenance knowledge to the design phase. Besides my undergraduate Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, I have a Master of Science in Environmental Decision Making and I am a Certified Asset Management Professional through PEMAC. I am a PEng. with Engineers, Geoscientists Manitoba and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in the UK.
I Have worked for Veolia, the world’s largest environment services company, since 2005 in capital program management and project management. Since 2010 Veolia have been partnering with the City of Winnipeg on their two billion dollar Wastewater Treatment Upgrade program, where I have been leading Veolia’s assistance on the operations, maintenance, asset management and refurbishment and replacement activities. I recently changed roles in Veolia and now act as Technical Director supporting Veolia’s municipal and industrial activity across Canada for water, wastewater and waste management. I have been a PEMAC member since discovering the CAMP program when I was looking for a recognized certification in asset management. I have gone on to instruct on the Capstone and Risk and Performance modules of the CAMP. In the words of Carl Santana, “The purpose of the music is to serve the song” and this is how I like to view Asset Management. To make music a band must communicate, cooperate, and collaborate among its members, with the production crew and with the audience. So, we must encourage the same behaviours across the asset management landscape to meet customer expectations and serve the objectives of our organizations.

Ecological Transformation and the Circular Economy

Presenter: Neil Abercrombie
Technical Director, Municipal Water, Veolia North America
Description:
The case for action on climate change has been accepted by the world, and it is time for commercial and industrial leaders to take action. In Veolia we call this ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION. It represents a proactive and in-depth change in our methods of production and consumption in order to provide the solutions our societies need. In Short, Ecological Transformation means walking the talk and taking real action to achieve society's goals for Climate Action. I will talk about the need to make our economy more "Circular", what that means and ask if we, as Asset Management Professionals, are prepared. Finally I will use a case study of Electric Vehicle Battery management to illustrate the concepts that I hope you will find interesting.
About the Presenter:

I trained as an engineer in the 1980’s in the British Merchant Navy. I later studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Glasgow (Scotland) and switched industries to work for Thames Water, the UKs’ largest water company, through their graduate program. This turned out to be an excellent foundation in Asset Management as they put me to work in every department of the water utility and I experienced every part of the asset management landscape. At that time Thames Water were beginning to explore the benefits of an Asset Management approach as a way to challenge the organisational silos within the company. Since then, I have developed my career in the water industry working on four continents and within multiple cultures. I have worked in many parts of the Asset management Landscape including: Operations; Maintenance; Program Management; Project Management; Commissioning; Procurement; and Operational Readiness. Reliability is baked into facilities during design and I have worked on many major wastewater upgrade projects where I brought operations and maintenance knowledge to the design phase. Besides my undergraduate Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, I have a Master of Science in Environmental Decision Making and I am a Certified Asset Management Professional through PEMAC. I am a PEng. with Engineers, Geoscientists Manitoba and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in the UK.
I Have worked for Veolia, the world’s largest environment services company, since 2005 in capital program management and project management. Since 2010 Veolia have been partnering with the City of Winnipeg on their two billion dollar Wastewater Treatment Upgrade program, where I have been leading Veolia’s assistance on the operations, maintenance, asset management and refurbishment and replacement activities. I recently changed roles in Veolia and now act as Technical Director supporting Veolia’s municipal and industrial activity across Canada for water, wastewater and waste management. I have been a PEMAC member since discovering the CAMP program when I was looking for a recognized certification in asset management. I have gone on to instruct on the Capstone and Risk and Performance modules of the CAMP. In the words of Carl Santana, “The purpose of the music is to serve the song” and this is how I like to view Asset Management. To make music a band must communicate, cooperate, and collaborate among its members, with the production crew and with the audience. So, we must encourage the same behaviours across the asset management landscape to meet customer expectations and serve the objectives of our organizations.