Delta joins Metro Vancouver cities grappling with compost stench

Putrid. That's how Mayor Lois Jackson describes the smell emanating from the Enviro-Smart composting facility in her city of Delta, B.C.

"It's a smell that you would get from a garbage dump and it's very, very unpleasant," Jackson said. 

The pungent bouquet of rotting food waste has been lingering around parts of Delta for months, Jackson says, and the city now has to explain to residents what's happening. 

"It has just come to a head, and we have just got to do something about this whole situation," she said. 

"Delta does not have the hammer but we're trying to establish who does."

Delta — a seaside city that's usually graced with a gentle ocean breeze — is the latest municipality in Metro Vancouver to complain about the ongoing fetid smell emitted by a composting facility.

White Rock residents have also complained about a mystery odour radiating from a composter. And Richmond residents have long criticized Harvest Power for air pollution and odour.

The need for composting facilities nearly tripled in Metro Vancouver between 2008 and 2016 as cities began diverting as much organic waste as possible from landfills. But as the need for composting grows so too do complaints about the aroma it creates.

'I'd like to see it cleaned up'

Facilities in Metro Vancouver appear to be bouncing the problem across the region as they adjust their production to deal with the stench.

A letter to Delta residents last week from the mayor's office says part of the problem is more waste coming from Richmond, where composter Harvest Power decreased how much it will accept in order to work through its odour problems.

Enviro-Smart said in a written statement it has made "substantial improvements to address odours" from its Delta site. 

The company said it has invested $1 million in a new indoor organics facility, and has stopped some commercial haulers from dropping off their waste.

Jackson says she's still trying to sort out who has the authority to solve the smelly issue. 

Technically, the Delta facility is operating within the conditions of its city-issued licence, so she thinks it's up to Metro Vancouver to deal with the smell.  

"I'd like to see it cleaned up. I'd like to see a facility with no odour," she said.

"My big question is who's the one who has authority to fix this if there's non-compliance."

'We're not the only ones who face this'

Andrew Marr, Metro Vancouver's director of waste planning, says the regional authority is looking at how it can regulate compost odour. 

"It's a relatively rapidly changing area in terms of technology and methods," Marr said. 

There are three main composting facilities in Metro Vancouver, he said, and a few more in areas like Lytton and Pemberton.

Marr said everyone in the region agrees that diverting organic waste from landfills is a noble and necessary goal. It's also one that many other cities around the world are grappling with.

"It's an issue and a challenge for every major urban area that is trying to do composting," he said. "We're not the only ones who face this."

But Marr also points out that there are large composting facilities in the urban areas of major cities like greater London and other cities throughout Europe: "So it can be done."

'I don't think we're ready'

The need for composting will likely increase as municipalities redirect more organic waste from landfills, Marr said.

And that means the region could see even more composting facilities in the future.

The goal, Marr said, is to simultaneously encourage residents to compost more and to work with the facilities so they can succeed. 

But as much as Mayor Jackson agrees that composting is a positive trend, she says she'd be hesitant to recommend that other municipalities welcome composting facilities within their city boundaries. 

"I don't think we're ready for how we have facilities like this without impacting the neighbourhood," Jackson said.