On the road to a sustainable, zero-waste community, the name of the game for the Sunshine Coast looks to be user pays.
That was the basis of a discussion led by the Sunshine Coast Regional District's (SCRD) manager of sustainable services, Dion Whyte, on April 2.
Staff and council members from Gibsons joined SCRD directors, including Sechelt director Alice Lutes and Jordan Louie of the Sechelt Indian Government District, for an afternoon presentation at the Cedars Inn.
There they were provided with an overview of the SCRD's solid waste management plan, as well as the financial implications of the Coast's zero-waste mandate.
The first of several implementation meetings involving officials from across the Coast, the presentation was the only one expected to be open to the public.
It is important to note that the public consultation period for the plan has passed, with the discussion now turning toward how local government will operate and fund waste management services going forward.
Due to these anticipated changes, Whyte said, services across the Coast have recently been provided under a month-to-month contract.
The situation is resulting in increased costs and an instability of the service, which is why the board has put such an emphasis on trying to move these discussions forward, Whyte said.
Perhaps the greatest challenge the Coast faces will be the closure of its two landfills. For example, a similar presentation in January showed how delaying closure of the Sechelt landfill until 2031 could mean a bill as high as $17.3 million.
The reason for the staggering figures: with landfills funded by tipping fees, a zero-waste mandate means declining revenues that threaten to push disposal services deep into the red.
This is why the SCRD, alongside other landfill operators like Metro Vancouver, are forecasting a sharp rise in landfill tipping fees as waste diversion targets of 60 to 70 per cent or more are considered over the coming years.
Incentive based tipping fees will be used to educate and encourage residents and businesses to utilize the new recycling options that are available for diverting waste, Whyte said during his presentation.
In order to recover the costs associated with a transition to zero waste, the driving principle will be user pay, aided by government grants wherever possible.
General SCRD tipping fees currently sit at $110 per tonne and are set to rise to $125 on May 1. Across the province, other regions have already begun to implement changes: as of Jan. 1, Powell River was charging $200, Cowichan Valley $137.
In Metro Vancouver, tipping fees were $97 in 2011. They're now expected to rise to $205 by 2016.
The system must be environmentally sound. Ultimately the SCRD will strive to achieve zero waste. The system must be financially affordable and provide sufficient long-term disposal capacity, commented Whyte. Zero waste isn't going to happen overnight.
While it will take time to achieve the goal of zero waste, the SCRD has shared its intent to be a provincial leader in waste diversion. The current goal is to achieve 69 per cent waste diversion by as early as 2016, a marked increase from the current 50 per cent.
With the SCRD expecting the first of what may be several annual increases to tipping fees starting this spring, the cost of dumping will soon rise.
In Gibsons, a special council meeting held March 27 demonstrated one way these fees could fall to residents, with council passing an amendment to increase the annual garbage collection fee from $97.50 to $120.50.
The price of an extra container was also set at $2.50, half of which shall be retained by the Town of Gibsons as a credit towards the additional tipping fee charged by the operator, the SCRD.
