As of Nov. 13 wood waste will no longer be accepted at the dump on Dusty Road.
Instead, Salish Soils in Sechelt will be collecting the waste and the unchanged tipping fee. Wood waste will continue to be collected at the Pender Harbour Transfer Station.
For several months the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), which runs the landfill, wrestled with the build-up of wood waste – a lapsed contract and an increase in wood waste disposal contributed to the ever-growing pile.
SCRD directors voted to award a $500,000 contract to Salish Soils in May, which would introduce a new wood processing method. Rather than transport the wood waste to an off-Coast landfill as the previous contractor had done, Salish Soils would collect the wood, grind it and send it to Howe Sound Pulp and Paper.
But that contract was due to start in fall, leaving an interim period when wood would continue accumulating at the Sechelt landfill.
In September, directors unanimously voted to award Salish Soils an interim contract worth approximately $200,000 to haul and dispose of the material from Pender Harbour and the Sechelt landfill before the larger contract kicks in, “to address the accumulated stockpile at both sites,” said solid waste operations manager Arun Kumar.
In a Nov. 4 release announcing Salish Soils as a new drop-off location for wood waste, infrastructure services general manager Remko Rosenboom said the change “will reduce GHG emissions associated with transportation as the processing of all the wood waste will now remain on the Sunshine Coast.”
The space that was once occupied by the large woodpile at the dump will be used to store other materials in the public-drop off area and congestion is also expected to drop during peak times, according to the release.
The tipping fee for clean wood is $170 per tonne. Clean wood can contain screws or nails, water-based paint or stain, wood containing glue, and includes composite wood products and off-cuts. Contaminated wood, including pressure treated wood, wood with oil-based paint or stain or non-wood lamination, costs $265 per tonne. Creosote wood is not accepted.
Questions about wood waste should be directed to Salish Soils at 604-885-5383 or by visiting www.salishenvironmentalgroup.com.
