Letter regarding Capital Regional District’s Solid Waste Management Plan

RE: CAPITAL REGIONAL DISTRICT’S SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN PHASE TWO OF PUBLIC CONSULTATION

On October 18, 2020, the Capital Regional District (CRD) Board directed staff to proceed with phase two of consultation on the CRD’s Draft Solid Waste Management Plan. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of this consultation process, invite input, provide opportunity for questions and seek endorsement from the Town of View Royal council on the enclosed Draft Solid Waste Management Plan.

As was outlined in our letter of September 23, 2019, the CRD is developing a new Solid Waste Management Plan – a plan that guides how the region will manage solid waste in the coming years, including recyclables, compostable materials and garbage from homes, businesses, institutions and construction/demolition sites.

The plan outlines ways the community will work to reduce, reuse, recycle and recover materials and energy from the solid waste stream as much as possible over the next ten years. By moving waste materials up the 5R hierarchy, this plan will conserve landfill space and efficiently use the Hartland site for future community needs while continuing to investigate emerging technologies for managing materials. This plan also targets reducing solid waste in our region from 380 kg per person (2018 levels) to 250 kg per person by 2030 and sets an aspirational goal of 125 kg/capita/year. There are 15 proposed strategies and a number of proposed actions to help achieve this target.

As participants in the solid waste management system, municipalities play an important role in helping our community achieve its solid waste goals. Strategies in this plan include collaboration with municipalities in the following areas:

• reduce and reuse education campaigns
• zero waste and circular economy initiatives
• solid waste facilities and residential recycling depots
• waste management plan requirements (multi-family and business sectors)
• organic material diversion
• construction, renovation and demolition material diversion
• illegal dumping prevention
• procurement policies

In 2019, the CRD conducted its first phase of consultation on this plan. The information gathered during this phase provided important input that was considered during the development of this Draft Solid Waste Management Plan. The Draft Plan, along with feedback received during the phase one consultation, including the Public Engagement Summary Report, can be found on the CRD’s website at www.crd.bc.ca/rethinkwaste.

The CRD is now undertaking a second phase of consultation, where we are inviting further comment, providing an opportunity for questions and seeking endorsement from the Town of View Royal and other municipalities in the region.

The proceedings and outcomes from phase two consultation will be documented into a phase two consultation summary report and reported back to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee and CRD Board. Following this consultation, the CRD will incorporate the results into the final plan, which will be submitted to the CRD Board for adoption and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change for review and approval.

In order to give your municipality an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback, our staff would be pleased to meet with you, your staff and/or council to share information and listen to how this plan can be used to address your community’s needs.

For more information, please contact Russ Smith, Senior Manager, Environmental Resource Management, at 250.360.3080 or rsmith@crd.bc.ca.

Sincerely,

Robert Lapham, MCIP, RPP Chief Administrative Officer

cc. Larisa Hutcheson, General Manager, Parks & Environment Services, CRD Russ Smith, Senior Manager, Environmental Resource Management, CRD