CBCRA (Recycle Everywhere) Announces Leadership Transition as Ken Friesen Assumes Full-Time Staff Role
WINNIPEG – DECEMBER 17, 2025
The CBCRA / Recycle Everywhere Board of Directors announced today that as of January 1, 2026, Ken Friesen will re-focus his duties as the organization’s Executive Director, retiring from his previous employment with producer responsibility organization management firm Reclay StewardEdge (RSE). The change will bring the Executive Director role under direct contract with the organization to focus on the beverage industry and CBCRA’s continued growth.
Friesen has successfully guided the organization since his involvement in launching the CBCRA in 2010, playing a central role in expanding membership engagement, enhancing government and industry partnerships, and driving strategic priorities. His new arrangement with CBCRA will allow him to work even more deeply on these efforts as the organization enters its next stage of development, having achieved the 75 per cent recovery mandate and looking to increase to 80 per cent by 2030. This shift reflects the continued growth of Recycle Everywhere and its commitment to strengthening leadership capacity as it advances key initiatives across the province.
“This is a natural evolution,” said Cheryl McLaughlin, Board Chair, “As our work expands, having Ken fully embedded within the organization, strengthens our governance and positions us to move faster, deepen our relationships, and build on the momentum he has helped create.”
Friesen emphasized that the transition represents continuity and opportunity. “I’m excited to continue serving our producers and partners,” he said. “The priorities remain the same: advancing the mission and delivering value to the province, its citizens, and industry stakeholders who rely on us. Recycle Everywhere is the lowest-cost beverage container recovery system in Canada on a per-unit basis and we will build on this efficiency and effectiveness as we grow.”
For more information, please contact:
Jill Knaggs Director, Stakeholder Relations
204.612.3372
jknaggs@cbcra-acrcb.org
About CBCRA / Recycle Everywhere
The Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA) is a not-for-profit, industry-funded organization responsible for improving beverage container recovery rates in Manitoba. Through its Recycle Everywhere program, CBCRA provides recycling infrastructure, education, and promotion to make beverage container recycling convenient and accessible at home, at work, and in public spaces.
