With the introduction of a $6 fee at the Foothills Landfill I can only hope that there are plans are being made to adress the illegal dumping that will more than likely increase around the city.

I have a better idea, start thinking about a recycling program, that will reduce the landfill loads.

I agree.. a very good idea He spoke

Considering our size this town is lacking proper recycling facilities!

I totally agree about the illegal dumping. People unwilling to pay will go out of their way to find their own dump sites either in the bush or on the side of the road. I love taking a drive down the Willow Cale forestry road but am always dismayed by the trash ppl have dumped at certain points. I guess I will have to get used to it and expect to see more in the future.

Considering our size this town is lacking proper recycling facilities!

I totally agree about the illegal dumping. People unwilling to pay will go out of their way to find their own dump sites either in the bush or on the side of the road. I love taking a drive down the Willow Cale forestry road but am always dismayed by the trash ppl have dumped at certain points. I guess I will have to get used to it and expect to see more in the future.

Sorry about the double post

We don’t need a door to door program. The recycling section of the transfer stations should be enhanced to take more than just cans, paper, and cardboard.

It should take recyclable plastics, etc. But then, people would probably leave it in a mess and dump other garbage there as well, similar to what happened to the swap shed… which was a good idea until a few people screwed it up.

And yes, with the $6 fee out at foothills, illegal dumping will happen. On one hand, you want the dump to be sustainable and not be a money-loser, but if people are going to dump their trash wherever, I don’t know if it’s worth it.

“Considering our size this town is lacking proper recycling facilities!”

BANG ON!!!!

Again, we have people who we have placed a trust in to manage something of common responsibility as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Now they discover that if we keep going this way that they will be around $22 million short by the time the landfill has to be shut down in 10 years or so.

Tipping fees are now $57 or so a tonne and will need to go up to $90 over 7 years at $5/year which is almost 10% in the first year.

The question is, who has done the calculation of how much longer the landfill would have been usable had we had a recycling program from the start? In fact, there was an objective set by the province that all regional districts were to meet or try to meet. How have the regional districts in the province done with that and where do we sit with that? There is the type of thing that the Municipal Auditor would delve into – How effective are we and what can we learn from those who are effective. From my point of view a very worthwhile investment.

People are lazy ….. door to door recycling works. Others do not … tell me waht the % is. 5% … 10% …. I doubt it is much more than that.

Here is the RDFFG recycling site …. virtually useless it is so difficult to get through … like phoning somewhere and keep getting transferred to the worng person because no one in the chain knows what the rest of the company does.

http://www.rdffg.bc.ca/Services/Environment/Solid_waste/Recycling/index.html

Here is the Watcom County site in Washington State. http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/publicworks/solidwaste/recyclingandwaste/recycling.jsp
Click on the recycling chart and you have a list of 23 private recycling services, most specialized in particular products – 21 categories listed. Phone numbers are there for everyone to use. VERY handy.

http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/publicworks/solidwaste/recyclingandwaste/recycling.jsp

I wanted to get a smaller garbage can, go from the larger city one to the smaller one and the City website says: To downsize you don’t have to pay the $20 charge as we encourage people to produce less waste.

So sure enough I call and change my garbage container size and they tell me its a $30 charge even if you are downsizing!!! Am I crazy or is this totally wrong?

It seems to me we keep getting hit by both directions.

1. we have not done enough, if anything, in the past to actually pay for lifetime costs of things.

2. costs are escallating due to higher energy costs, more studies required (we obviously have not been doing the right ones in the past as we can tell from the topic of landfills) higher cost of qulified labour, higher cost of labour due to labour shortage.

One more thing we have not considered …. higher cost of labour for those who require a higher education for the jobs we need done these day ….. longer in school means more money owing for the cost of education and shorter work life both of which mean less money collected by the time of retirement.

I wonder who has looked at that fact of life and the cost down the road.

Time for some of those think tank group people to reconvene and think seriously about where we are going with all this.

Then again, socredible has the solution …. so how do we get socredible’s solution to be implemented and find out the problems we will have as a result that we cannot foresee now. :-)

Curbside recycling is a phone call away for anyone that wants it. There are also plenty of bins around town that accept newspaper, cardboard, tincans etc. The transfer stations accept used oil, batteries and tires at no cost.

If the city implements a blue box program it should do so by expanding the existing program. The last thing we need is paying CUPE rates and gold plated benefit plans with no lay offs to pick up yesterdays newspapers(not to mention the bureaucracy and managers to support it)

And don’t forget this is the same group that raised the rates because there was less garbage coming across the scales during the economic slowdown and they needed the same amount of revenue to operate the dump. Using their logic expect higher garbage fees as recyclables are removed from the stream plus the additional cost of the blue box.

One question….do RDFFG residents pay anything on their tax bill to support the landfill, if not they should not be getting a free pass.

I went to the page ….. again, a simple mater of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing ….. I use a simple term INCOMPETENCY…. someone at City Hall is screwing up.

Here is what it says on the web page under FAQ

What if my cart capacity needs change?

Residents whose cart capacity needs change may obtain information on how to change their cart capacity by calling the City’s Service Centre at 561-7600. A $20 exchange fee will apply.

For new homeowners, there will be a six month grace period in which the container can be exchanged one time for no fee.

The service fee is ALSO WAIVED if the request is for a smaller container. All other requests for a larger capacity cart will be charged a $20 service fee.

Perhaps some people cannot read to the level they need to read for this $26/hour or so job …. called functional illiteracy.

So, is this a management problem in that the web master has not changed the words or that the manager has not checked their departmnent employees for quality control, or is this a union worker problem in that they make up their own version of the rules?

I was not charged when I downsized but that was quite some time ago.

Costs $12/month = $144/year + 12% HST. That is more than the small container from the City and they only pick up half as often.

On top of that, there is nothing there that cannot be taken to existing bins. In addition, they collect plastic and glass bottles, the majority of which can be returned for a refund.

So, convenience, nothing else.

A true recycling program will actually recycle other items that are not of the low hanging fruit variety.

It is still on the City WebPage. If there is a price marked on an item or a service and the seller has not changed it by mistake, that is too bad. They have to provide it to you for that price.

The City should be standing by their advertised price.

gus: “People are lazy ….. door to door recycling works.”

True. But I would hope that people aren’t too lazy to pick up the phone and call a private recycling firm…

I don’t trust this City to run a door to door recycling program. It would turn into a cash cow. I might be able to get on board if people had the choice to opt out.

This is for those who have space in their grey matter to digest and store things under the category of “learning from others”.

In addition to the normal solid waste and recycling pickups, this company has started a “Food Plus” Service. All garbage services are private companies in that county. This particular business has been in operation since 1929.
http://www.ssc-inc.com/faqs.php#103
Food scraps, yard debris, compostable papers and bio-plastics are all composted into rich soil amendment through our award-winning FoodPlus! program. FoodPlus! is a cost-effective way to reduce waste, trim your garbage bill and support local businesses creating new products from recycled materials. All FoodPlus! materials are composted at Green Earth Technologies (GET) in Lynden. Compost from GET is available for sale in Whatcom County.
Here are some of the items which get separated out from the general landfill and go into the compostable area.
ALL FOODS/FOOD SCRAPS including:
•Fruit/Vegetable Scraps, Peels, Trimmings
•Spoiled/Outdated Foods
•Dairy Scraps (such as yogurt, cheese, sour cream, ice cream, milk)
•Paper Coffee Filters, Coffee Grounds
•Eggshells
•Leftovers/Table Scraps
•Dough Scraps (wrap or bag in PAPER)
•All Meat, Fish, Shellfish Scraps (including bones and shells)
ALL COMPOSTABLE FOOD-SOILED PRODUCTS, including:
•Pizza Boxes
•Paper Milk/Juice Cartons
•Ice Cream/Frozen Food Cartons
•Paper Deli/Take-Out Cartons
•Napkins/Paper Towels/Tablecloths
•Paper Plates, Bowls, Cups
•Parchment/Waxed Paper, Paper Bags
•Bakery Boxes, Paper Liners, Waxed Cardboard Boxes
•Bio/Eco Dishware (Ex. Corn, Potato, Bamboo-Based items) including Plates, Bowls, Cups, Lids, Utensils, Straws, To-Go Containers
All Yard Debris including:
•Grass Clippings
•Garden Trimmings/Weeds
•Leaves/Branches
•Floral Trimmings, Houseplants
•Expired Floral Arrangements, Waxed Floral Paper
•Seasonal Greens (Pumpkins, Cornstalks, Hay, Gourds, Garlands, Wreaths, Swags, Etc.)
OTHER COMPOSTABLE ITEMS including:
•Tissue Paper
•Small Wood Scraps
•Paper Vacuum Cleaner Bags/Dust
•Fabric Scraps, Thread
•Dryer Lint
•Corks (real, not plastic)
======================================

We’ve barely started to run to first base with recycling in this community. In fact, I think we tripped along the way and may not be able to get up. Time to get another batter up to base on recycling. Neither the City nor the RDFFG seems to be capable.

“It would turn into a cash cow”

It seems to me that the private company charging $144 + HST for a pickup every second city collection day and grabbing refundable bottles from some customers without paying them back for part of that deposit is going for a cash grab.

Too bad that government has turned into an untrustworthy organization.

Recycling is a better fit in Whatcom county as they are in a huge population center. PG is a long way from anywhere making recycling for our relatively small population a costly endeavor.

Lonesome sparrow makes a good point. When I use the facilities already provided I have very little waste left over. One just has to make the effort.

Dumps can be mined so it just might be more of a cost benefit to dump everything in the dump then have it mined after a time. http://www.fastcompany.com/1778461/trash-cash-mining-landfills-energy-and-profit

Maybe we should train the City and some of the contractors in this City how to recycle.

The City is one of the biggest contributors to the landfill, along with those industries that burned down, or were torn down in the past few years.

The City dumped the Prince George Hotel in the land fill, along with the Columbus hotel on third avenue, and the CKPG Building, and the Outrigger Restaurant. Im sure there are many other buildings that were thrown in the landfill, and I suggest they have many more lined up to go into the fill, such as Ed Delormes Garage, on George ST., and the old Norgate Auto Body shop to name a few.

Then of course we have the clean up from the fire North Central Plywood, and Interior Warehouse. In addition there were 18 Carloads of damaged plywood that could have been burnt in the burners at Dunkley Lumber, but because of Government red tape ended up in the landfill.

Here is the problem. The Governments ie; Provincial, Municipal, and Regional, are basically incompetent. The problem is that the everyday people in this town try to communicate and solve problems with people who are not capable of solving these problems. If you tracked how we have treated garbage over the past 10 to 15 years you would begin to see the problems.

It matters little to the citizens of Prince George whether the Region, or the City looks after these transfer stations, the bottom line is that it will cost us more money.

This is not a solution to a problem. It is in effect taking a somewhat minor problem and elevating it into a major problem.

So, in essence we have a City and Regional Disrict who cannot run a garbage dump, and want more money from taxpayers to do what they should have been able to do with their present budget.

We are broke and short of money because of all the **stupid** projects that this City has borrowed and spent money on for the past 10/15 years. Now those responsible are trying to wriggle out by changing everything to make it look like they are doing something.

If they cant run a garbage dump, then how the hell can they run a city. There is more to running a City than raising the costs of services and raising taxes.

Actually the population centre is not that huge. The border between Canada and the USA might as well be a solid wall, other than some Canadians who rush down to get primarily dairy products, some meats and gasoline. Many other things do not have that kind of price differential. The big difference is the cost of housing which is anywhere between 2 and three times as high on this side.

Other than Bellingham, the county is spread out like any other rural area.

I think the food plus program is the most important one because it removes a very large component of solid garbage that otherwise goes into landfill. It removes it without the expense of mining. Mining is just a procrastination mindset and costing us tipping fees when the same or less money can be used to remove that through an agri-soils remediation process ….. increase the life of landfills considerably and likely reduce the amount of fertilizer which may be imported by local crop farmers. I do not know anything about that business, but it is obviously used by locals in the south.

The business is operated by a company that quarries sand and gravel and now has gone into the composting business. Perhaps there are some takers around here.

gus: “It seems to me that the private company charging $144 + HST for a pickup every second city collection day and grabbing refundable bottles from some customers without paying them back for part of that deposit is going for a cash grab.”

True again. But at least people can make that decision to pay for the service for themselves.

The only thing worth recycling is beer cans!

Seattle just down the road, big center.

Oh sure a great idea! You’ll see more garbage and other crap in the bush, idiots.

You paid for the garbage can, you get charged to pick it up, you don’t own it???Seems to me I’d be better off taking my own garbage to the dump for 6 bucks and not paying the the city for garbage. Seems to me we should all do that and we could get rid of all this wasted money on trucks and drivers and cans — same as in the old days. Neighbors teamed up and went to the dump with a pickup full. The complete administration and everything could be dumped. Then we would have more people going to Ab to look for a job. It’s a lose, lose situation for us.