The city has provided a glimpse of what will be a dramatic shift in how garbage collection and recycling is handled beginning next spring.
Residential garbage will be picked up once every two weeks and recyclables placed in large, clear plastic bags in the off weeks as of next May.
The new system is designed to fit in with the creation of a province-wide organization called Multi-Material BC (MMBC) which will expand recycling beyond current items to include paper and other packaging materials used in consumer goods.
The residential service will be operated by the city and provided to family and multi-family residences that have up to four units, with an as-of-yet undetermined collection company providing pick-up for businesses, apartment buildings and other institutions.
The new MMBC program will provide the city an estimated $134,000 a year for the curbside recycling program as part of a new system whereby producers will pay for the recycling of packaging contained in their products.
Though MMBC Chair Allen Langdon said the organization is still forming, it has signed up approximately 1,200 producer companies, and has forecast a budget of $100 million. The impact on consumers of packaged goods has yet to be determined but projections are that costs to consumers will increase as producers cover their payments to MMBC.
Langdon said that under the new system municipalities have the choice of providing their own service using MMBC money or having MMBC pay contractors for residential pickup.
In both scenarios MMBC is in charge of a depot where material would be sorted and then transported, though Langdon said local specifics still need to be worked out.
City public works director Rob Schibli said the city is choosing to provide collection services because it fits well with the current curbside garbage pick-up program.
The report shows that with recycling forecast to reduce garbage loads by up to 50 per cent, allowing the city to reduce garbage pick-up to a new biweekly system, Terrace stands to save up to $81,000 a year.
“We're the only ones with the approved stewardship plan,” Langdon added. “There is efficiency in scale. The more material you can collect in the system, the cheaper it is for everyone.”
Municipalities have until Sept. 16 to sign five-year contracts with MMBC.
Materials collected under the coming program include paper products, cardboard and plastics (except plastic bottles), to be transferred in a single stream, meaning they can be mixed in the bags to be separated later at a depot.
Glass would need to be collected separately, and Terrace may or may not choose to include this glass-recycling option. Schibli said that less than half a per cent of Terrace landfill material is composed of glass, and he believes the current fleet can be fitted with boxes for collection.
Forty plastic bags will be given to every household per year, which will cost $28,000, and is included in the total expense of $144,000 for the first year of the program. The city estimates the cost will be $131,000 for each following year.
Included are education and administration costs at $20,000 for the first year and $7,000 for each following year.
Until new garbage trucks are purchased, the current fleet will pick up both waste and recyclables on alternating weeks.
“Our collection fleet will be replaced within the next few years and will be optimized for refuse/recycling collection and delivery of refuse to the new [regional district] landfill,” said Schibli, referring to the regional district's Forceman Ridge landfill project.
Until the upgrade the machines will be pressure-washed weekly to avoid contamination of recyclables with compost, Schibli said.
There will still be a two-can limit on refuse and the shift to picking it up every two weeks will reduce the cost from $182,000 each week to $91,000.
“There will be quite a bit of public education happening to get the public in the know about what is going to come down in the spring,” said city administrator Heather Avison of an information campaign set to begin this fall.
The overall program is supposed to provide incentive for companies to reduce packaging and create value for recycled material. Other options were presented by city staff to council, such as weekly pick-up of both garbage and recycling but were deemed cost prohibitive.