The Capital Regional District has approved a final plan on solid waste management that would reduce garbage by one third over the next decade and extend the life of Hartland Landfill for at least another 80 years, and possibly beyond.
The plan sets up priorities and mitigation programs to reduce waste from top producers, such as industrial and commercial businesses and multi-family dwellings, with a goal to reduce the waste per capita rate from 390 kilograms a year to 250 by 2030.
If nothing is done, the CRD says, current habits and population growth will put the landfill at capacity by 2045. The plan proposes a number of ways to reduce, recycle, manage and divert waste.
Short-term priorities include investigating options for a clean-wood waste ban and deconstruction rather than demolition methods, creating a community-based waste reduction grant program and working with regional partners to reduce waste generated by apartments and businesses, which are less likely to have programs separating garbage and kitchen scraps.
Construction materials make up about 40% of the waste in the landfill, a figure being pressured by the building and renovation boom during the pandemic.
Although the new plan falls short of a “zero-waste” target, most CRD directors favoured the plan. Saanich Coun. Judy Brownoff called it a “living document that can be amended.” View Royal Mayor David Screetch viewed it as “aspirational as well as practical.”
Kevin Murdoch, mayor of Oak Bay, said the plan sets reasonable goals and allowances for changes.
“It would be nice to have zero waste today, but this moves us forward,” he said.
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins, who chairs the CRD’s environmental committee, noted the targets exceed those set out by the province and “we are ready to meet those aspirational goals.”
Saanich Coun. Ned Taylor favoured a zero-waste model or at least a more ambitious target for cuts, citing the 70 acres of woodland bordering Mount Work Regional Park that is earmarked for future expansion of garbage pits at Hartland. “We just can’t destroy natural spaces to accommodate garbage,” he said.
Victoria Coun. Jeremy Loveday did not support the plan, saying the targets are “not ambitious enough.”
The waste management plan also creates a negotiation table with the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council to discuss potential partnerships related to Hartland Landfill.
CRD staff first consulted on the proposed targets and strategies for the plan in late 2019, and formed a draft that was issued for public review and comment in November 2020.
It includes input from electoral areas and municipalities, First Nations communities, residents and neighbouring regional districts.
CRD staff said the waste management plan will have annual reports and can be amended as opportunities and technologies emerge.
The CRD board also approved a motion that staff prepare a package of Hartland area road access options, costing up to $4 million funded by the Capital Regional District’s Environmental Resource Management division, and to review the options with Saanich staff and area residents, and return to the CRD for direction on next steps.
Residents who live near the landfill have objected to several aspects of the plan, including shifting traffic from Hartland Avenue to Willis Point Road.
The plan will be submitted to the province for approval in June.