ISWMP (Ingtegrated Solid Waste Mgmt Plan) for Metro Vancouver
Metro Vancouver (metrovancouver.org) has been battling our waste bulge for a long time. July 14, 2010 is the last day for public input into the most recent version of the ISWMP for the Greater Vancouver Regional District and member municipalities. There is a public meeting slated for 6:30 PM on July 14, 2010 @ Metro Vancouver offices 4330 Kingsway, main board room (2nd floor). This is the last opportunity for the public to ask questions and give their opinion on the plan and what it is hoping to achieve.
Many people are debating the proposed changes in the plan. The most glaring change in the plan (this time over the last plan) is the comprehensive integration of the Recovery of energy. Translation, burning garbage and turning into energy that will heat local communities or businesses.
Our region is creating 3.4 milion tonnes of garbage each year, this is staggering. Of this amount we manage to divert 1.9 million tonnes to recycling facilities, or 55% diversion. This is not bad, but we have a ways to go!
Metro Vancouver today needs to manage (that means dispose) 1.5 million tonnes of waste each year. Hopefully over the next 5 years we will all see the light and become even better recyclers or perhaps more importantly buy less and consume less resources and divert 2.7 million tonnes of waste which would equal 70% diversion. Is this too ambitious? I don’t think so, I actually believe it is very achievable but it is going to require a concerted effort and quite frankly complacency about the garbage we create as a household, business or person has to stop. We actually have to start caring about what we buy and what we throughout.
The current hierarchy (or priority) for waste management plans is Reduce, Resuse, Recycle and Residual (throw away what is left). The change is quite simple, add in Recover after Recycle, and this quite simply means incinerate or burn the garbage that remains. Personallly I belive that the science is good (or at least it sounds good, b/c I am not a qualified scientist) and that incinerating makes sense. I wish we had no waste so there would be no reason to have to incinerate (Recover) but that is not our realty in the Lower Mainland and we should learn how to deal with the waste in our own backyard. We might take it more seriously if we do!
Tour of the Metro Vancouver WTE facility in Burnaby
On Thursday I participated in a tour of the Waste to Energy facility in Burnaby. I was very impressed with the tour and the process. The facility was built in the early 1980’s and has been expanded and improved apon several times since then. Life expectancy for the WTE facility is approximately 40 years.
Here are several facts I learnt, that I think are of general interest:
Liberal Aug 25 Crown Speech limits Metro Vancouver’s waste exporting options
It is a very interesting development, the Liberals will limit the ability of Metro Vancouver to export waste in the short term. Why is this such a big deal? Well it is quite simple, with the Cache Creek landfill scheduled to close in 2010, there will be no where to send an estimated 600,000 metric tonnes of Metro Vancouver waste (that is waste that you and I create in our daily lives). Alternate plans for disposing of this waste, will likely not be available until 2015 (Waste to Energy facility) and this presents a major problem for us all. Where is the extra waste going to go?
More on waste to energy
This is a good article – good information on waste to energy.
http://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/tricitynews/news/50400417.html
Green Thoughts Poll
Loading ...Follow Us On
