The initial phase of the Cariboo Regional District's (CRD) 10-year plan for solid waste management operations is growing closer to fruition.
The CRD's Solid Waste Management Plan was approved in principle by the board on July 12, after two years of studies, information gathering and public consultations.
The plan includes a phased-in approach over the next decade for implementing new and revised services that will see a one-stop drop for all waste and recycling at many sites.
CRD chair Al Richmond says the first phase of the plan will see added recycling options, staffed stations, controlled hours of access and improved services for over-sized items, metals and wood waste at its nine busiest sites.
It is hoped all sites will be installed by 2014.
Home composting bins will be also be offered at “lost cost” to rural residents, he explains, and other phase 1 actions will include burning wood waste and improved sorting of demolition materials.
Safety rails will be installed at some sites where the refuse drop-off is steep and potentially hazardous, Richmond adds.
He explains it will be launched with a pilot at the Lac la Hache transfer station and then spread to Lone Butte and Forest Grove transfer stations, Watch Lake and Interlakes landfills and four other sites further north in the region.
The Lac la Hache site was chosen for the pilot because it is the busiest and the CRD hauls the most garbage from there, as it is used extensively by 108 Mile Ranch and other area residents, Richmond notes.
"Right now, there are just metals [collection] and a transfer station there, so plans are to add a wood waste area and, of course, introduce the recycling, because if we have controlled hours of entrance, then we can make sure people don't put garbage in with the recyclables ... and contaminate it."
Initially, the eco-centres will have segregated bins for cardboard, recyclable plastics and glass, but the long-term intention is to aim for single-stream recycling, he explains, to "make it easy" for people who will bag it, but don't want to go to the trouble to sort it.
"Technology is today where you can actually have a single waste stream that is sorted mechanically and avoid people doing that. That's a long-term [plan] for us when we put the eco-centres in."
Construction costs will be higher than anticipated, so the CRD will use non-committed Community Works Funds of $170,000 to complete the pilot project.
However, maintaining an affordable system is also key component of the plan, he adds.
From 2015 to 2017, phase 2 will see eco-depots installed at the 100 Mile House, Williams Lake and Quesnel community landfills, and there may also be a trial windrow composting of yard, garden and veggie waste to determine feasibility.
Savings of $400,000 to be redirected to these improved services are expected from added waste compaction and reduced contamination (which reduces hauling and sorting costs), as well as other efficiencies.
From 2018 to 2021, phase 3 will primarily involve public education campaigns and continuation of the initiatives already underway.
As it moves forward, the plan will gradually provide recycling access for all CRD residents, working toward its goal of a 50 per cent diversion of solid waste by 2021.
It will also reduce the cleanup and sorting costs of contaminated loads or improperly dumped loads; divert commercial loads from sites meant for residential waste; require users to sort wood waste; and standardize commercial tipping fees.
The plan will be presented to municipalities in the region at various joint committees, and then sent to the Ministry of Environment for final endorsement.
More information about the CRD's solid waste management operations is available online at cariboord.bc.ca.