HALIFAX, N.S. – Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly is asking the North American pop and snack industry to join an initiative he says will reduce indirect pollution caused by vending machines.
Kelly says if vending machines are fitted with special energy saving devices, the amount of electricity used would be reduced significantly.
He has written the presidents of the Canadian branches of Coke and Pepsi, as well as officials of vending machine firms in the city, asking them to fit such devices to their units.
A delegation from the soft-drink and snack industry is in Halifax to meet with the municipality’s energy and underground services committee.
The committee is discussing a bylaw amendment that would, if approved by council, make it mandatory for all vending machines in the municipality to be equipped with energy-saving devices.
A recent study by city staff determined that each vending machine in Nova Scotia is indirectly responsible for four tonnes of CO2 being released annually into the atmosphere.
