An expanded curbside recycling service seems likely after the final installment of the Sunshine Coast Regional District's (SCRD) series of recycling open houses last Saturday (June 21).
The purpose of the event was to seek more public comment on the recommendations of the recycling review steering committee, who have selected a modified version of option three as the basis of their recommendation to be forwarded to the SCRD board. Gibsons resident Gayle Neilson was one of about 20 residents to offer her thoughts at the open house.
"As a homeowner, I'm definitely willing to pay more to expand our recycling service," she said.
In addition to other open houses held in Sechelt and Pender Harbour, mall displays have been set up this week in Gibsons and Sechelt to seek last-minute feedback from the public. If the steering committee feels more input is needed before being confident their recommendation reflects the public's concerns, they will need to request more money from the SCRD board first.
So far, the cost for the recycling review has come to $60,000 - $55,000 for consultant Gartner Lee, and $5,000 for communications and logistics, said manager of sustainability Dion Whyte.
Though the review began by giving equal weight to each aspect of the "triple bottom line" (environmental, economic and social), steering committee member Vicki Tyndall explained environmental concerns emerged as the most important in the committee's selection of option three. That option involves curbside recycling in the current SCRD garbage collection area (GCA), combined with an enhanced depot system. The program won't necessarily be operated by the SCRD, she added.
The preliminary cost of option three is estimated to be at least $33 annually per household for those outside the GCA and about $60 for those within it.
Sarah Wilmot, a consultant with Gartner Lee, explained some of the assumptions used to weigh the four proposed options. Using case studies from other B.C. regional districts, Wilmot said the best-case scenario for diversion of waste from landfills using unstaffed drop-off depots exclusively is 12 per cent. Curbside recycling programs are also found to have a 90 per cent rate of participation, compared to just 15 to 20 per cent for depots.
However, the committee's recommendation remains mute on whether a single stream or multi-stream (sort-at-the-curb) system is preferred, although many members favoured the multi-stream option. Curbside collection would likely be carried out bi-weekly, as is currently done in Sechelt. Despite the strong emphasis on curbside collection, the plan does call for continued operation of the full-service GRIPS in Pender Harbour, which remains under an SCRD contract until 2010. Wilmot noted Pender Harbour residents said they're satisfied with the service level at GRIPS. She also pointed out the social value associated with depots: some public feedback has indicated people like the community feel of running into neighbours while dropping off recycling, she said.
Norm Bonin, owner of Direct Disposal, was in attendance last Saturday. He said he supports the modified option three, though he remains skeptical about the value of unstaffed depots, which he said often wind up as garbage dumps. He also suggested the SCRD needs an automated single-stream curbside collection.
Wilmot noted a few social factors, such as highway safety and bear-human conflict, were identified too late in the process to be factored into the scoring system used to evaluate the options. Though beyond the scope of the current review, green waste was flagged by the steering committee for a review, possibly under the 2009 financial plan for solid waste management, Whyte said.
