Kitchen scraps previously hauled off-Island are getting a more local treatment this spring.
In December, the Capital Regional District board asked staff to issue a tender for a two-year kitchen scraps hauling and processing contract, with no guaranteed minimum volume and an ability to direct materials to a processing facility owned or leased by the CRD.
“I am pleased this new contract will result in cost savings while maintaining the effective delivery of services to the residents of our region,” said Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins, chair of the CRD board.
The board awarded D.L. Bins Ltd. the hauling and processing of kitchen scraps. It was the most competitive tender.
The contract runs March 1, 2016 to Feb. 28, 2018, at a rate for 2016 of $114.50/tonne – an estimated annual savings of approximately $250,000 over the previous kitchen scraps contract.
Annual contract costs are projected to be up to $1,145,000 per year with tipping fee revenue expected to cover 96 per cent of the hauling and processing costs.
“I’m really glad we went back and re-tendered this because we saved a lot of money,” said Langford Coun. Denise Blackwell during the CRD meeting where the contract was approved.
D.L Bins Ltd. has identified Enviro-Smart Organics in Delta and Fisher Road Recycling in Cobble Hill as their main processing subcontractors.
“I’m very concerned that we continue to remove kitchen scraps from the region,” said North Saanich Mayor Alice Finall. She suggested adding a timeline – subject to staff providing on or before Jan. 2017 options for an in-region processing project.
She was assured by staff it doesn’t preclude shifting to geographically closer processing, should for example, the wastewater treatment project provide an opportunity. A staff report suggested information on options for an in-region kitchen scraps processing pilot will be forthcoming.
A landfill ban on kitchen scraps was implemented in the region last January and the CRD provides haulers the option to deposit source separate kitchen scraps at its Hartland transfer station for subsequent transfer off-site for composting and marketing.
Kitchen scraps currently at Hartland are hauled to Richmond.
The CRD estimates over 40,000 tonnes of kitchen scraps have been diverted from Hartland landfill since 2007.