Directors at the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) have accepted a consultant’s recommendations on organic waste diversion, but they disagree on how and how soon to implement them.
A total of $25,000 was set aside to develop the strategy, and consultant Carey McIver presented her report at the July 20 meeting of the infrastructure services committee.
SCRD staff estimate that 44 per cent (by weight) of the trash that goes to the landfill in Sechelt is organic waste – green waste, food scraps and food-soiled paper.
And with the landfill’s lifespan sitting at just 10 to 12 years, staff say “diverting organic material represents the largest opportunity for extending its lifespan.”
McIver said organics diversion based around a curbside collection program has proven effective in many communities, especially on Vancouver Island, and she said the February 2019 expiry of waste collection services contracts gives SCRD plenty of time to plan for changes.
She also said the SCRD has a key asset that many communities lack. “You’re really lucky to have a composting plant, privately owned and operated, here in the regional district,” McIver said. “Salish Soils has a design capacity to process 12,000 tonnes a year of food waste plus green waste… They’re currently running at about 6,500 tonnes of feedstock a year.”
McIver said there are several “puzzle pieces” the SCRD will need to consider, including the elongated nature of the potential collection area, odour control at the processing facilities, and whether to impose a ban on throwing organics into the garbage.
“You need to consider if you want to do a disposal ban, which is very effective and low cost from a local government perspective, and what sectors? Commercial only, or commercial and residential.”
McIver has proposed a seven-step strategy, starting with a commercial food waste ban in 2018. The next steps would be a food waste drop-off in Pender Harbour in 2018-19 and for 2019 studying the feasibility of a similar drop-off in the south, launching a food waste reduction campaign and an at-home compost coaching program and possible backyard composter subsidy and finally “curbside collection of food waste for all SCRD residences receiving curbside collection of garbage for a March 1, 2019 start.”
Debate among the directors focused on the timelines, and the role of home composting.
“We still have time, but we have to move,” said Area A director Frank Mauro. “This is one area we have to look at.”
Ian Winn of West Howe Sound put it in starker terms. “I believe that we’re on the cusp of a crisis,” he said. “We need to be doing whatever we can… Anything that we’re doing needs to be accelerated.” Later in the meeting he urged directors to move the timelines up by a year.
“The amount of costs ahead of us for behaving badly are tremendous,” noted Elphinstone director Lorne Lewis. “It’s as simple as that.”
Roberts Creek’s Mark Lebbell expressed concerns about the possibility curbside collection could lead to less home composting. He suggested the SCRD work to create a “compost culture” before rolling out a collection program and wanted to see compost coaching and composter subsidies considered for 2018.
The SCRD board was to vote July 27 on accepting the draft strategy, but keeping it as a draft only “until an implementation plan is developed and approved.”
Other, related, recommendations include: getting a staff report on a possible landfill ban on residential organics in 2020 or beyond, having the compost coaching and food waste reduction programs considered for inclusion in the 2018 budget, and that staff look into the feasibility of individual properties opting in or out of curbside pickup.
Gibsons council, meanwhile, was due to vote on a recommendation to consider a curbside organics collection system based on a bid from Grayco Ventures in response to a recent request for proposals at a special meeting July 26, after Coast Reporter’s deadline.
If the vote is favourable, the Town would follow up in September with contract details and an implementation timeline.
