It could be the end of Free Landfill Day in Kamloops.
When it started in 2005 there were two such free days. One in the spring and one in the fall. It went to just having one event in the spring in 2015.
Environmental Services Manager Glen Farrow says when it launched it was a way to promote community cleanup, but residents have started to take advantage. “See people stockpiling waste, debris, recyclables, anything and everything that you can fit into a truck and bringing it to the landfill for free. So really moving away from what the initial intent of that day stood for.”
The city has waived almost $16,000 in tipping fees at the Mission Flats Landfill site alone from 2015 to 2019. But, Glen Farrow says the move goes beyond finances.
“We do have large capital plans at all three of our landfills, so finances are important, but it’s the environmental side of it as well. The fact that a lot of product that should be recycled, should be diverted does not happen on that day. The traffic is so high, the amount of idling occurring waiting to get into the site. No cardboard is removed, things like TVs, paint, batteries, all that is required to be pulled out, but when it’s all free there’s truly no incentive to do the right thing and pull out all that product.”
“We’ve been encouraging residents for years when bringing a load to the landfill, having it all separated out so you’re able to divert and remove all that product. There’s significant product that’s available for free disposal all year round. Things such as your paper, plastics, cardboard, tires, paint, electronics, batteries… so we have a lot of programs in place that allow for things to be disposed of free year round.”
“Even something like yard waste. We have three locations around town where that yard waste can be disposed of. We continue to see far too much yard waste at our sites even including on Free Landfill Day. So my big takeaway moving forward is to continue promoting and educating folks around all those great services that are provided year round.”
Farrow says moving forward it recommends the City support community cleanup efforts by having residents and community groups apply to have tipping fee waived. He says groups should give at least one week of notice prior to your clean up event takes place.
Farrow also notes that Free Landfill Day was cancelled this spring due to COVID-19.
The Civic Operations Committee has approved the recommendation and it will go to council for debate sometime in the future.
When it comes to the life left in the city’s landfill sites, Farrow says Barnartvale is close to closing, but the other two sites have a lot of capacity and it is going through capital projects at both sites this year. “One of them is a bit of an expansion going higher up the hill out at Mission Flats and at KRRC we are working on closure works knowing that there is a lot of capacity at that site… We’re hoping to do even more diversion in the coming years so we’re looking at 40 [or] 50 years plus.”
