And the Survey Says.......Waste Management Survey Results

Saturday, March 22, 2008 05:14 AM

Prince George, B.C. - The results are in on the Regional District of fraser fort George Waste Management survey.

Nearly 750 people filled out the survey which asked for thoughts on recycling, composting and illegal dumping as part of a review of the Solid Waste Management Plan.

“We were overwhelmed by the response,” says Petra Wildauer, General Manager of Environmental Services with the Regional District. “It’s obvious that this is an issue that people are passionate about and have many ideas about how we should be handling our waste,” says Wildauer, who adds that a total of 749 surveys were received during the one week on line survey process.

The Regional District has launched the review of its Solid Waste Management Plan – the plan that determines how we will recycle, compost and dispose of our garbage for the next 10-20 years. The existing plan was completed in 1997, and focused on regionalizing the district’s landfills and reducing the amount of waste disposed by 50%.

In the last ten years, the RDFFG has closed 19 landfills and replaced them with transfer stations. The majority of the waste is now disposed at the Foothills Boulevard Regional Landfill, with a small portion still being taken to four remaining smaller landfills. Recycling levels have increased to roughly 28%.

The review is a three-phased process. The first phase is underway now, and includes the public input portion, as well as an evaluation of the current system and status of the 2007 plan.

The second phase takes the information from the evaluation along with the feedback from the public, and starts to develop potential options for improving waste management.

The final phase of the project involves bringing selected options back to the public for further consultation. The third phase also includes a draft report to the Regional District Board, and pending approval, sending the plan to the Ministry of Environment.

The entire process is expected to last four – six months.

The feedback from the survey still has to be analyzed, but a few highlights include:

• 60% of respondents indicated they were satisfied with the current garbage collection

• 90% responded that they would like to see a curbside recyclables collection service

• 64% indicated that the compost should be upgraded to accept food waste

• 69.5% indicated that items that can be recycled should be banned from landfill

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Posted on Saturday, March 22, 2008 05:14 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Norm1 on March 22 2008 9:03 AM

As one of the 749 people who filled out the online survey,I have to say that it is good to see that the regional district is overwhelmed by the response.

I feel that I keep aware of local news and events but I would not have been aware of the Regional District online survey if I had not received an email from freecycle/reaps drawing my attention to it.

Did I miss the publicity by the Regional District surrounding this, time limited, survey?

Posted by: owl on March 22 2008 10:10 AM

I missed it as well ....

mayeb we need to take a survey on how many missed it .... determine whether we can improve the notice system so that more will be aware of it .....

Or, horror of horrors ... do a REAL scientific survey of what people feel instead of allowing special interest groups to hog the survey ......

Where are we going as a society when even thse kind of surveys cannot be conducted properly? Where is Alex Micholos? Have we lost the capacity to do proper surveys in this part of the world?

Just get on with defining the cost of curbside recycling and the cost of not doing curbside recycling and then make the choice.

Maybe it is time for the provincial government to step in once more on the issue of municipal garbage and force the situation.

Posted by: Bridge on March 22 2008 10:18 AM

Our City also assisted in the garbage disposal effort by closing the recycle shed on 18th ave and increasing the disposal fee from $2.00 to $5.00.

Too reduce the amount of garbage collected all they need to do is get rid of the monster garbage cans that they gave to those that its no problem to include many items in their garbage such as card board and other recyclabls.

Cheers

Posted by: kevin1006 on March 22 2008 11:31 AM

There is no good, sane reason why in the long run we can't shut down every single land fill in the entire country. When you start with the premise that there is no where to throw garbage because you no longer accept the word you start thinking about the entire process from the start and not the finish. In other words concentrate on the production end. Stop making the things that can't be re-used or composted. This is easier to do than currently believed by most.

We're always re-acting instead of pro-acting. Turn this dynamic around and we'll start solving all the Earth's problems, including garbage.

One day to come we may find that land fills are not only no longer used for waste disposal, but that the old ones are now something else: Strip Mines.

Posted by: Harbinger on March 22 2008 8:43 PM

Curbside recycling? Hey, this is Canada. If there is a buck to be made someone will do it. If not, I sure as hell don't want my tax dollars paying fer recycling.

Posted by: Harbinger on March 22 2008 8:44 PM

Can I say "hell?"

Posted by: owl on March 23 2008 9:57 AM

"If not, I sure as hell don't want my tax dollars paying fer recycling."

Tax dollars? do you ever buy liquids in bottles? Do you ever notice the $ added so that you will return the bottles? If you are so concerned about the money, I am sure that you must return every single bottle to a depot.

How about tires? Televison and computer monitors? Added on right at point of sale.

A buck to be made? I am old enough to have been around when a junk dealer would come around the streets of downtown Ottawa with a horse and wagon and take anything that was recyclable for a few pennies.

We no longer have to do that. We are too affluent. We are the throw away society. Everything is built for a few years, then we junk it. The city is full of junk. Drive into town from the east along first avenue and all you see on the right hand side is junk. Go in a block to the south of first avenue and there are at least 4 to five city blocks filled with junk. Fly in and take a window seat .... junk!!!! every 5th place has a collector of junk living in it........

They are all waiting for the price of steel, aluminum, plastic, whatever to go up. In the meantime they are a blight on this and most North American cities.

We live in our own crap. We are so used to it, we no longer see it.

Posted by: owl on March 23 2008 9:58 AM

You can say hell ... you can say crap .... you can even say junk ...

Just, when you say hell, cross yourself ....

;-)

Posted by: owl on March 23 2008 10:09 AM

"One day to come we may find that land fills are not only no longer used for waste disposal, but that the old ones are now something else: Strip Mines."

They are used to capture methane in many larger urban areas. Here the methane from the landfill on First Avenue at Moores Meadow is simply being vented into the air. More GHG that we could be using rather than contributing to the global inventory of GHG. Betcha it is not being reported.

http://www.methanetomarkets.org/events/2005/all/docs/vogt.pdf

Posted by: owl on March 23 2008 10:19 AM

As Harbinger says, if there is a buck to be made, someone will do it .... more or less ...

http://www.methanetomarkets.org/events/2005/all/breakout-landfill.htm

So, should we compost in our back yards, for those who have a yard and cause urban sprawl as they compost ... ;-)

or should we get it picked up and store it for a few decades and eventually extract the methane for energy?