Mayor's Report - July 2011

An operations analysis of the recycle and refuse facility for 2010 has again provided some very interesting statistics. Last year Belcarra residents generated 372,504 lbs. (186.3 tons) of refuse and 165,838 lbs. (82.9 tons) of recyclables. This was a total waste stream of 538,342 lbs. (269.2 tons) for 2010. Last year Belcarra's waste totalled 265.9 tons, which was the lowest amount of refuse since 2001.

On a household basis, Belcarra's total waste equates to 1,547 lbs. per household in 2010 –– 17% less than 2007 which was the highest year. On a population basis, this equates to 769 lbs per capita –– substantially lower than previous years, and only 10% higher than the Metro Vancouver residential sector average of 700 lbs per capita. I interpret these data as confirmation that garbage was being "imported" into Belcarra for disposal, and that controlled access to the recycle and refuse facility is addressing the problem.

During 2010 Belcarra achieved a diversion rate of 31%, compared to the Metro Vancouver single-family residential sector which currently achieves a diversion rate of 44% to recycle. Knowing that many Belcarra households diligently sort their solid waste for recycle, it appears that there are still some households that can do more to divert recyclable materials away from landfill. For all single family homes in the region to average a 65% recycling rate, we need 80% of households to recycle 80% of their waste every day.

I previously reported that kitchen scraps will be banned from residential garbage destined for landfill by the end of 2012. That means everything from apple cores to chicken bones, bread crusts, eggshells, coffee grounds, tea bags, paper towels and pizza boxes must be separated as presently done for other recyclables. Organics, kitchen and food waste account for an estimated 40% of all Metro Vancouver garbage. This is the next waste diversion category that Belcarra must address, and staff is presently researching the best mechanism for collecting residential organic wastes.

For 2011, the Metro Vancouver "tip fee" has increased by 18% from $82 per ton to $97 per ton. The bottom-line is that the more waste diverted to recycle, the lower the total cost of solid waste disposal. However, what few people realize is that whenever deliveries of refuse are found to contain banned materials fines are imposed with the additional threat that future deliveries will be rejected. Similarly, whenever deliveries of recyclables are found to contain "contaminants", additional cost penalties are incurred. Even worse, however, is refusal by recycle processors to accept a delivery of contaminated recyclables –– which Belcarra has experienced! What do you do with a bin full of contaminated recyclables that are also deemed "banned materials" for landfill disposal?

The installation of site access controls, a new refuse and recycle bylaw, user education, and enforcement strategies such as fines for non-permitted items, are all necessary to take us forward in our waste reduction goals. In other words, Belcarra's recycle and refuse facility has evolved to help make us more sustainable.

We can only improve our recycling efforts with the total involvement and support of the users of the system; that is, the residents of Belcarra. The cost of garbage disposal will continue to increase in the coming years, and there will be an increased price to pay if we don't continue our efforts to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Search www.belcarra.ca Search WWW