Ministers Rejection of Waste & Recycling Bylaw 280 Infuriates Metro Vancouver

The decision by British Columbia’s Environment Minister, Mary Polak, to reject a Metro Vancouver Bylaw 280, aimed at increasing recycling and proper management, will have catastrophic consequences throughout the province, according to Metro Vancouver Board chair, Greg Moore. Metro Vancouver is a partnership of 21 municipalities, one Electoral Area and one Treaty First Nation that collaboratively plans for and delivers regional-scale services. According to Metro Vancouver, Bylaw 280 would require waste haulers to use regional disposal facilities, to encourage local recycling and prevent the bypassing of disposal bans for certain products and materials. Rejection and review British Columbia’s Ministry of Environment explained that Polak, as the statutory decision-maker, has decided not to approve Bylaw 280. In her decision letter to the Metro Vancouver Board, Polak cites a number of significant public-interest concerns that factored into the decision. The Province of British Columbia said that it will now review Metro Vancouver’s solid waste management plan to determine the most-effective way to achieve waste diversion in the region. The ministry said that Marvin Hunt, MLA for Surrey-Panorama, will conduct a three-month review focusing on the multi-family and industrial-commercial-institutional (ICI) waste streams and will report back with findings and provide advice to Environment Minister Mary Polak. It added that the review is in response to Metro Vancouver’s proposed Bylaw 280 on waste flow control and will take into account the role local government and the private sector play in maximising diversion from landfills. These concerns included: The potential for Bylaw 280 to create a monopoly on waste management The potential for increased illegal dumping The possible negative effects on the new packaging and printed paper recycling program The destabilising effect it may have on private-sector collection and hauling. “I commend Metro Vancouver for their continued efforts toward protecting the environment and achieving the waste-diversion goals set out in their solid waste management plan, commented Polak. “This review will help focus on the most-effective ways to achieve waste diversion going forward,” she added Backlash Metro Vancouver’s Greg Moore responded to the decision with some anger. “This decision means the commitment of our citizens to recycling and waste avoidance becomes virtually unachievable,” he said. “The result will be increased costs for residents and businesses, and rather than being recycled, materials will simply be shipped to dumps where they will rot for centuries and create problems for future generations. And the impact on recycling businesses in Metro Vancouver that have invested many millions of dollars, with the expectation significant future investments, will be devastating,” he continued. “It is incomprehensible to us that the Minister has listened to lobbyists and ignored the facts provided by Metro Vancouver, supported by 12 other regional districts in BC, representing 90% of the provincial population, along with the Recycle First Coalition and the 825 workers it employs, in making this short-sighted decision,” berated Moore. Metro Vancouver claimed that bylaw 280 is necessary to meet recycling goals of 70% by 2015 and 80% by 2020, and that it was the subject of intensive lobbying by major vested interests in the waste industry which opposed it. Rather than manage the waste produced in Metro Vancouver within the region, it was claimed that several waste companies are increasingly bypassing the regional system so that they can avoid bans on recyclable materials and the tipping fees necessary to ensure a competitive recycling and disposal system. “To say those of us who are on the front lines of responsible waste management in British Columbia are disappointed in the Minister’s decision would be a significant understatement,” added Metro Vancouver vice chair, Raymond Louie. Following extensive consultation with stakeholders, including over 70 meetings, Metro Vancouver said that it prepared and, following industry feedback, amended Bylaw 280 which was endorsed by the 23 communities that make up the regional district. The bylaw was submitted to the Minister in November of 2013 for approval. “I find it unfortunate that it has taken a year to arrive at a decision that simply avoids the realities of maintaining and enhancing an effective recycling system in favour of the interests of a few big haulers and landfill owners,” continued Louie. “Without the ability to deal with garbage at regional facilities where inspections can ensure recyclable materials are properly diverted and everyone pays their fair share of the costs, our existing, highly effective system is at serious risk,” he added. Metro Vancouver said that thanks to that current system it recycled 60% of the overall waste produced in 2013. That recycling rate has continued to grow under the region’s provincially approved Integrated Solid Waste and Resource Management Plan – a plan that requires managing the flow of waste. “Without proper regulation, it is abundantly clear that increasing quantities of garbage and recycling will be shipped out of the region for disposal at remote landfills, and that is not a result we believe most British Columbians will find acceptable,” concluded Moore. Read More Waste to Energy Affordable & Safe Say Experts in Canada Waste to energy technology has been backed as an ‘affordable’ way for municipalities to manage wastes and generate energy, with “almost no measurable effect on human health”, according to scientists and industry experts at the recent Energy Recovery Symposium in Toronto, Canada. 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