$200M spent so far, 'significant' amount still needed to improve N.L. waste management: report
Spending has not kept pace with the increasing amounts and types of waste, says consultant
A wide-sweeping review of Newfoundland and Labrador's waste management strategy says the province is making great progress after spending about $200 million in the last two decades, but more is needed to keep moving forward on divert more garbage, close old landfills and achieve other targets.
First the good news.
"Since 2002, 72 per cent of waste disposal sites closed and 85 per cent of open burning and incineration activity ceased," says the review's executive advisor, Ann Marie Hann, in the written report.
"Over 83 per cent of the population on the island portion of the province has access to new waste-management services, including waste-diversion programs and modern-day waste-disposal facilities. A new regional landfill in Labrador West is also now in operation."
But there is some bad news too.
Each year about $21 million is spent on waste collection and disposal in Newfoundland and Labrador, but the review says "significant additional funding" is needed to improve waste management.
"The investment in waste management has not kept pace with the increasing amounts and types of waste. Implementing modern waste management initially requires significant financial investment to build the necessary infrastructure. In addition, there will be significant costs to close obsolete disposal sites and equipment," it says.
The report includes some options where the money has been either earmarked or could be an option: the gas tax agreement between the federal and provincial governments and cost-share capital works funding, among other options.
"The capital costs for new waste management infrastructure may be financed through a combination of public-private partnerships, private sector ownership and operation, and municipal, provincial, and federal cost-sharing. Operating costs will be offset through taxes, tipping fees and revenues from waste diversion."
The review suggests replacing the existing eight waste management regions on the island portion of the province with two newly defined waste management regions.
"Each region will operate financially on a stand-alone basis, with operations funded from the households, businesses, and institutions in the region through taxes, tipping fees and revenues from regional and/or provincial waste diversion programs," says the report.
"Waste Management Authorities may set differential tipping fees to encourage waste diversion, with higher fees for unsorted waste and low fees for recyclables that can be marketed or are part of a provincewide diversion program."
Those solutions might meet with some resistance; during public consultations for the review, some residents said they don't want to pay more for waste management.
"Unfortunately, implementation of the strategy continues to be stalled in many areas of the province due to the absence of a plan supported by both government and affected communities. Concern over costs is driving most concern," says the report.
The 148-page report, the first comprehensive review of the waste strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador since 2002, contains dozens of recommendations. CBC News contacted the Department of Municipal Affairs and requested an interview, but did not receive a reply. In the media release, the department said it was reviewing the report.
No more unsorted waste in landfills
The review says some changes are necessary
"The current approach to waste management in Newfoundland and Labrador, disposing of unsorted waste into a landfill site, must change," the report says.
"As the provincial waste management strategy is implemented, we will divert 50 per cent of the materials going to disposal, the number of waste disposal sites will be reduced, and open burning, incineration, and the use of unlined landfill sites will be phased out."
Disposal bans and mandatory recycling
The review says the government's waste-disposal strategy includes measures to improve waste management but must go even further.
"In the short term, government will implement disposal bans on tires, oil, corrugated cardboard, newsprint, bond paper and organic material," it says.
"For the long term, government will research the possibility of disposal bans for other materials, including household hazardous waste products. The province will need mandatory municipal and institutional, commercial and industrial recycling programs to advance meaningfully its waste diversion goal."
More video surveillance and fines
The report recommends more video surveillance to control illegal dumping and makes a series of proposals for action, such as ticketing for littering offences.
"Service NL should review the appropriateness of introducing summary offence ticketing to facilitate waste management enforcement, and potentially extend this review to include consideration of other ticketing opportunities under the Environmental Protection Act."
All of the review's 45 recommendations can be viewed at this website; Solid Waste Management in Newfoundland and Labrador: Finishing what we started.
Corrections
- A previous version of this story stated that implementing the measures outlined in the report would cost $200 million. That is incorrect. That is the amount that has been spent on the province's waste strategy since 2002. The report states that moving forward, "significant additional funding" is still required, but there are options where some of that money can be sourced.Feb 03, 2020 10:51 AM EST