The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) will raise tipping fees for items such as contaminated wood, rubble and soil at its landfills and transfer stations starting Thursday, May 1, as it looks to tackle the challenge of non-reusable wood waste and to reduce taxation.
The regional government is "most notably" increasing fees for contaminated wood from $86.75 per tonne or $34.50 per cubic metre to $166.50 per tonne or $40 per cubic metre.
Contaminated wood waste, which includes wood with paint, stains, glue, plastics, preservatives or composites, will now be binned with mixed waste, while the fee for clean wood waste, which can include nails and screws, doesn't change.
Uli Wolf, RDCK's general manager of environmental services, told Black Press Media the change for contaminated wood comes because it can no longer be turned into a useful end-of-life product. Originally, landfills and transfer stations had worked to set aside contaminated wood, but "it wasn't worth the effort to separate it from other materials," Wolf said.
Many of the historical end-of-life uses for contaminated wood have since disappeared or become questionable, he said, and with additional concerns of this wood sitting around as potential wildfire fuel, "that's the big one for us" of all RDCK's May 1 landfill fee changes.
"Landfill fire is a huge risk," Wolf noted.
In its April 9 Facebook post about the fee changes, RDCK adds that consolidating contaminated wood with mixed waste may also "reduce significant processing costs, such as wood grinding," because the wood ends up stockpiled at landfill sites and taking up "valuable space." Wolf estimated that RDCK spent about $40,000 on contaminated wood grinding in 2023.
"That's a significant cost for us and we're not getting any benefit," he said, adding that RDCK has pegged $169,000 in savings per year if it cuts separating contaminated wood entirely.
However, this isn't a silver bullet, as "RDCK is looking for better alternatives than landfilling contaminated wood, and does not see this as a permanent solution," the post reads.
"We have not found that market yet," Wolf confirmed, adding that RDCK has chatted with a local company that's worked to produce biochar (which comes from the decomposition of organic material) but has not had anything "come to fruition yet."
Other tipping fee increases include rubble rising from $58.50 per tonne to $166.50 per tonne, while its rate of $87.75 per cubic metre remains the same.
"Rubble originally was stockpiled and used at facilities for road building," RDCK explains in its April post. "The small quantities received, however, make storage and processing of this material costly and inefficient."
Meanwhile, waste soil goes from $53.25 per tonne to $66 per tonne, and uncontaminated soil increases from $24 per tonne or $36 per cubic metre to $28.50 per tonne or $42.50 per cubic metre.
"Soil is needed for landfill cover material, however, accepting too much soil consumes valuable landfill airspace," RDCK adds.
Another change to RDCK's tipping policy is for yard and garden waste, where the cost threshold of 2.5 cubic metres will be eliminated. Now, any garden load larger than two "containers" will be charged by tonnage and volume, as landfill visitors and staff had previously struggled to eyeball 2.5 cubic metres, "likely resulting in many loads that should be charged by weight or volume paying a reduced rate," RDCK says.
"Don't take 'container' too literally," Wolf advised, adding that RDCK also offers two months per year of free yard and garden waste disposal for all residents.
Though he said these free months of yard waste, one in spring and one in fall, cost RDCK about $57,000 per year in lost revenue, the end result that 100 per cent of this organic waste gets reused and diverted from landfill is "where we feel it is justified," he added.
"We have the main objective of fewer materials going to the landfill, and particularly organic materials," Wolf continued, citing the potential benefits of less leaching and fewer planet-warming methane emissions at RDCK sites.
Ultimately, he said RDCK intends to strike a balance between taxation and efficiency with these new tipping fee structures, with "the vast majority of cost subsidized" for residents.
Still, "for some people, these tipping fees are a challenge," Wolf acknowledged.
On Feb. 1, RDCK increased all tipping fees at landfills and transfer stations by 10 per cent, to meet rises in operating costs for things such as fuel, labour, insurance, supplies, regulatory requirements and borrowing repayments.
"Funds collected through tipping fees have not been fully covering operating costs," RDCK says on its webpage. "The shortfall is made up through taxation, which impacts everyone regardless of individual waste generated."
RDCK's subsequent May 1 fee changes follow its 2024 Systems Efficiency Study that assessed potential cost recovery for its landfills and transfer stations.
"The study found that costs to manage many materials exceeded revenues recovered by current tipping fees, and were therefore being subsidized through taxation," RDCK summarizes on Facebook.
Learn more and read the RDCK's FAQs on these latest fee changes at rdck.ca/environmental-service/environmental-services/waste-recycling/user-fees.
