Key waste diversion bylaw to be resubmitted for provincial approval

Rachelle Stein-Wotten

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder

The Regional District of Nanaimo is resubmitting its “groundbreaking” waste hauler licensing (WHL) bylaw for approval after working on changes requested by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.

The bylaw was originally submitted for approval by the ministry in 2022. Since then, RDN staff have been in dialogue with ministry staff responding to questions and concerns. Two clauses have been added to the bylaw as a result; the new version passed three readings by the RDN board of directors on Jan. 30.

The changes involve adding a clause that would exempt haulers of items that fall under the Extended Producer Responsibility plan, such as the pharmaceutical program, which sees the shipment of pharmaceuticals to Metro Vancouver for incineration.

A sunset clause was added to the bylaw at the request of the ministry that would allow the province to end the RDN’s WHL program and replace it with provincial programs. The sunset period is set for 2029; the RDN negotiated to allow for an extension application to be submitted in 2027.

Once implemented, the WHL bylaw would “apply to any business transporting another person’s waste for profit where the waste originates within the region,” the bylaw says. “The intent is to promote the ‘business of diversion’ and foster industry innovation to achieve the lowest system cost with the highest waste diversion.”

Five tiers of licensing are delineated, based on tonnes hauled during the term of the licence. Under the RDN’s tipping fee bylaw, licence holders are eligible to receive the ‘licensed waste hauler tipping fee’ rate specific to each tier.

The bylaw is a companion to the mandatory waste source separation bylaw, which received approval last year. When both are fully implemented, the RDN expects they will result in a 10 per cent reduction of waste going to the regional landfill, key to reaching the regional district’s 90 per cent waste diversion target.

Work on the bylaw has been ongoing since 2016, Nanaimo Director Ben Geselbracht said. “Taking leadership on items sometimes is a very long road to get there and takes a lot of communication, but what we’re doing is groundbreaking, and we should see a significant reduction in waste going to landfill,” Geselbracht, who chairs the solid waste management select committee, said.