qathet Regional District (qRD) has chosen a business to provide organics processing services for the region.
According to a qRD media release, the successful proponent for the organics processing facility request for proposal is Powell River Green Waste Company (PRGWC).
In an interview with the Peak, regional board chair Patrick Brabazon said a report the regional board received on June 24 on the 2021 waste composition report, which provided an audit of the region’s solid waste, indicates the need for a composting facility in the qathet region.
“We are a semi-isolated community, only accessible by ferries, and we cannot continue to ship garden waste out to landfill, which is what we are doing,” said Brabazon. “Now, we’ll do it in-house. We’ll do it in our backyard.”
Brabazon said the two remaining competitors in the process were extremely close in the quality and professionalism of their submissions.
“The board is tasked with making difficult decisions at times and this was one of them,” said Brabazon. “In the end, a slight margin of merit tipped the scale on who was chosen.”
The organics processing evaluation team, of which no regional district directors were members, was very active in scoring the bids, according to Brabazon. He said he hopes people realize the proposal qRD accepted is the best.
Composting is just one aspect of solid waste management qRD is involved in. Brabazon said the resource-recovery centre, which is to be built on the city’s old incinerator site, is going to be an astounding facility in a community of this size.
Brabazon said he is very pleased that the region is on the road to the proper transition from the old garbage world into the green world.
The media release stated the regional board has now directed staff to empower PRGWC to deliver on the plan, design, sustainability, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of an organics processing facility to be initially located at Sunshine Disposal and Recycling at 4484 Franklin Avenue.
Next steps will involve PRGWC being assigned a caseworker from the province’s environmental protection division, the release stated. Subsequently, PRGWC will be required to perform public engagement. An application will then be made demonstrating how the facility complies with organic matter recycling regulation.
This Franklin Avenue site, a City of Powell River-regulated and approved location, will be short-term until volumes exceed 1,500 tonnes per year, in compliance with the regulating authority, the release stated.
qRD will now work with PRGWC to engage the public, to provide awareness on the details of the facility, inclusive of operational management plans that directly address odour, pest and wildlife mitigation, according to the release.
PRGWC will be looking to secure land south of Powell River in a remote setting to establish the final facility capable of processing up to 3,000 tonnes of food scraps and yard waste per year, the media release stated.
The release concluded by indicating there has been a great deal of time and effort spent over the past decade toward establishment of a local organics processing facility. The development will allow for local processing of upwards of 40 per cent of the region’s waste once fully implemented and help qRD meet its strategic priorities related to climate change mitigation.
