New SCRD Landfill Rules

New SCRD regulations will come into effect on October 1st, 2022, banning food waste and paper from our local garbage stream. Both residents and businesses will be required to put organic waste into their green bins for collection and paper will have to be placed in with items that need to be recycled.

The intention is to increase diversion, reduce the methane emissions from the existing landfill and buy a little time before the Sechelt landfill must close (projected date is sometime in 2025) and the SCRD starts shipping solid waste off coast on at least a temporary basis. That will involve the need for a transfer station/barge facility, operational by the summer of 2025 in order to ship garbage off coast. The SCRD has also had a relatively high staff turnover in the solid waste division which is adding to the challenge. Even if the SCRD is able to find a suitable new landfill site, it will not be ready by 2025. 

Peter Hews