Our region’s ecological footprint continues to grow. According to Metro Vancouver’s Strategy for Updating the Solid Waste Management Plan, “the waste quantities in Metro Vancouver are increasing every year as the population expands and particularly since 2004 when the economic fortunes of the region improved.” Despite improved recycling rates, both the Vancouver Landfill and the Cache Creek Landfill are rapidly filling up. To deal with the 3 million tonnes of garbage we generate every year, Metro Vancouver is now faced with sending its waste across the border to Washington State at significant public cost. Is this a desirable course of action? As Metro Vancouver grows, how are we to approach the issue of waste, and how must we change our perception of it?
Metro Vancouver’s solid waste strategy is based on a “waste hierarchy” composed of “the 5 Rs” and resembling an inverse triangle. In addition to “the 3 Rs” familiar to most of us (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) are two new ones; Recover and Residuals. “Recover” means the recovery of materials and/or energy from the waste stream and “Residuals” refers to managing waste that remains after the first four Rs have been applied. The issue of waste recovery is one that has serious implications for New Westminster, as Metro Vancouver has expressed interest in developing a Waste-to-Energy (WTE) facility in the Braid Industrial Area. While such a facility would create jobs and divert regional waste from the landfill, three critical issues surrounding WTE should be raised.
Issue 1: Defining Zero Waste
The 5 Rs are hierarchical for a reason. Reducing waste and reusing materials demands less energy than recycling. Recycling, in turn, consumes less energy than recovery and residuals management. If a key goal of the Solid Waste Management Plan is achieving “Zero Waste” (as Metro Vancouver has stated), then reducing our consumption of materials must take priority. However, implementing waste recovery (such as WTE) without making market reforms will only add more materials to the overall waste stream, requiring greater inputs of energy and further depleting natural resources. Metro Vancouver’s target of 70% waste diversion relies on per capita garbage production remaining steady for the next 25 years! This assumption contradicts the goal of Zero Waste and underlies the risks associated with WTE dependence. Most importantly, it fails to recognize that current rates of consumption are unsustainable.
Issue 2: Transportation of Waste
Metro Vancouver has presented two models for a regional WTE system – a “Distributed System” of multiple, smaller facilities and a “Centralized System” of three larger facilities. The former CanFor lands in New Westminster are currently being considered as a WTE location in one or both of these systems. Regardless of which model is decided on, the result will be an increase in the transportation of waste throughout the region. New Westminster already sees a disproportionate amount of regional truck traffic, with a corresponding negative effect on air quality, noise levels and safety. As vehicle fuel costs become more prohibitive, it is crucial to examine alternative modes of waste transport. Existing railways that link our industrial areas could provide an efficient and congestion-free solution to this problem.
Issue 3: Energy Rights
Due to their shrinking abundance, fossil fuels are forecast to contribute less and less power to our electrical grid. As our transmission lines and hydroelectric infrastructure age, the cost of their upkeep is bound to become a problem. It is likely that today’s massive electrical utilities, including BC Hydro, will become increasingly unreliable and expensive. With this in mind, New Westminster would be prudent to incorporate WTE technology into a “local” power grid, to be developed alongside other renewable energy systems with the eventual goal being energy self-sufficiency. In order to maintain some control over WTE operations, local governments should gain open access to the energy produced by those facilities lying within their borders. New Westminster, which already owns the local electrical utility (in the form of New Westminster Electric) is ideally positioned to kick-start this kind of energy revolution.
A number of excellent strategies are included in the Draft Solid Waste Management Plan. Shifting the cost of waste management to producers and consumers, eliminating waste from the demolition/building permit process, improving recycling and developing regional composting are just a few. Unfortunately, many of the necessary steps are being hampered by a lack of political courage. This was illustrated recently when a resolution to ban plastic bags was defeated by the Lower Mainland Local Government Association (LMLGA). Introducing bans on plastic and styrofoam packaging would go a long way toward addressing our region’s waste issues. The resulting stimulus to the biodegradable packaging industry could be part of a wave of new “green collar jobs” for New Westminster. Waste-to-Energy technology can also play a crucial part in our progress towards Zero Waste – as long as we remain honest about our intentions.
- NWEP Energy Committee
