REGIONAL KITCHEN SCRAPS PROCESSING UPDATE

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Committee receives the report entitled “Regional Kitchen Scraps Processing Update”, dated May 8th, 2014, from the Superintendent of Engineering, for information.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER'S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE'S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING'S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To update the Committee on the current status of the Capital Regional District's Kitchen Scraps Strategy.

TIME CRITICAL:

Not applicable to this report.

BACKGROUND:

In order to conserve space in the Hartland Landfill, the Capital Regional District (CRD) implemented a pilot program to introduce a food waste (kitchen scraps) component to their diversion program. The Town of View Royal was one of two municipalities to participate in this pilot, which began January 1st, 2007. The CRD plans to ban kitchen scraps from the landfill disposal effective January 2015.

Since the start of the pilot, and until recently (other than a brief period of time at the end of 2012 to mid-2013 as per Attachment 'A' of this report), the Town's kitchen scraps have been collected and hauled by the Town's collection contractor to a transfer bin at the Hartland Landfill, where it was then hauled to the CRD's processing contractor at Fisher Road Recycling in Cobble Hill. The CRD covered the cost of the hauling of the kitchen scraps to this facility, as well as the processing of this waste.

Additionally, the CRD offered municipalities a $20 per tonne tipping fee incentive in 2013 and 2014. The current tipping fee for kitchen scraps is $107 per tonne; therefore View Royal is currently paying a net cost of $87 per tonne to manage its kitchen scraps.

Anticipating the ban of food waste from the Hartland Landfill, some of the region's other municipalities have recently implemented the collection of kitchen scraps. The District of Saanich has recently entered into a five year contract with Fisher Road Recycling to bring their kitchen scraps to that facility. Due to the substantially increased volume of food waste from Saanich, the Fisher Road facility currently no longer has the capacity to handle the food waste from View Royal, or any other municipalities in the CRD. The CRD only had a short term arrangement with Fisher Road Recycling for View Royal's, Victoria's and Oak Bay's food waste, which has now expired.

PROJECT INFORMATION:

CRD staff issued an RFP for the processing of kitchen scraps in 2012 and the contract was awarded to Foundation Organics in Central Saanich. However, the license to operate Foundation Organics was suspended in August 2013 due to issues of non-compliance with CRD's Bylaw 2736 (Composting Facilities Regulation Bylaw). CRD staff then proceeded to issue a tender for the interim hauling and processing of kitchen scraps from the Hartland Landfill transfer station. The outcome of this tender was a recommendation from CRD staff to award the contract to Emterra Environmental, who would haul the material from the transfer station at Hartland to Harvest Power Incorporated in Richmond, BC.

At the CRD’s February 26th, 2014 Environmental Services Committee (ESC) meeting, the ESC tabled staff’s resolution to award the contract to haul the kitchen scraps to the mainland and asked that it be brought back to a March 26th, 2014 ESC meeting with further information. The resolution was defeated at the March 26th, 2014 meeting and CRD staff was asked to pursue investigating processing at the Hartland Landfill.

At the April 9th, 2014 CRD Board meeting, the board voted to accept staff’s recommendation to award the contract to ship the kitchen scraps to Richmond. CRD Staff has been directed to look at long-term processing options in proximity to the region, including the option of using Hartland Landfill as a processing venue.

Due to the time that this review will take, the interim hauling and processing of the food waste to Richmond will continue until December 2015, with the option to extend the contract by two one-year terms, at the sole discretion of the CRD.

For View Royal, this means that our collection contractor will continue to drop off food waste to the Hartland Landfill transfer bin, where it will be collected by Emterra Environmental and shipped to the facility in Richmond.

Attachment 'A' of this report summarizes the CRD's Regional Kitchen Scraps Strategy key dates and decisions.

Tom Watkins, Manager of Environmental Resource Management, Policy and Planning, will be in attendance at the May 13th, 2014 Committee of the Whole Meeting, to answer any questions the Committee may regard the Regional Kitchen Scraps Strategy.

BUDGET IMPLICATIONS:

The contract awarded to Emterra Environmental results in an increase from $107 per tonne to $140 per tonne to recover costs. CRD staff has been asked to review options to cover the incremental costs and will likely bring a staff report to the next ESC meeting for consideration.

Therefore, at this time there will be no impact on budget for the Town. The Town will continue to pay the $107 per tonne tipping fee minus the $20 per tonne incentive for a net amount of $87 per tonne, most likely until the end of 2014 although that is not yet confirmed.

The Town collects approximately 300 tonnes of food waste annually. If the per tonnage cost for food waste was to increase to $140 per tonne (versus the current cost of $87 per tonne), cost implications would be approximately $16,000 annually, or approximately $6 per dwelling unit annually.

SUSTAINABILITY CONSIDERATIONS:

By participating in the separation and recycling of food waste, the Town is showing its support for responsible management of waste and the conservation of landfill space, as well as its commitment to environmental management and stewardship.

Both the Fisher Road Recycling and Harvest Power facilities use the food waste to produce garden-ready top quality soils, mulches and organic fertilizers. These products are sold to commercial businesses, landscapers and homeowners.

ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATION:

Not applicable to this report.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Committee receives the report entitled “Regional Kitchen Scraps Processing Update”, dated May 8th, 2014, from the Superintendent of Engineering, for information.

SUBMITTED BY:

Deb Becelaere Superintendent of Engineering

REVIEWED BY:

John Rosenberg, ASCT Director of Engineering