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CITY OF KAMLOOPS
SUSTAINABLE KAMLOOPS PLAN

INFORMATION PACKAGE ON SOLID WASTE

(Final Version)

BACKGROUND

Effectively managing solid waste is important to community sustainability for a number of

reasons:

• Production and consumption of goods results in waste generated throughout the whole
product life cycle as well as substantial amounts of energy to produce, distribute, and use
goods. Using raw materials to produce goods also has impacts on ecosystems. Together,
these all have significant environmental impact;

• Solid waste landfills require land on which to operate. The storage of solid waste in landfills
can lead to leachates which can enter the water table;

• Solid waste decomposition leads to methane production, which is a potent greenhouse gas
resulting in climate change. In addition, transporting solid waste to landfills requires
significant amounts of energy;

• Continually producing goods from raw materials has substantial environmental impacts in
terms of resource extraction and energy consumption;

• Solid waste management is a costly municipal service; and

• In Kamloops, the scent of solid waste can be a major bear attractant which can lead to the
need to kill problem bears.

BASELINE CONDITIONS

There are numerous ways to characterize current conditions relating to Kamloops’ solid waste
management. These include:

• Description of current solid waste management procedures;

• Existing solid waste facilities;

• How solid waste operations are financed;

• What are the various types of solid waste disposed; and

• How much solid waste per person is landfilled in Kamloops.

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Current Solid Waste Collection Procedures

Management of solid waste occurs in several ways in Kamloops:

• The City collects solid waste for disposal from all residential homes in the City;

• Most commercial and industrial building operators contract out their solid waste collection to
private companies though the City collects approximately 1/3 of this type of waste;

• All disposal of residential solid waste occurs at the Mission Flats, Barnhartvale, or Heffley
Creek landfills. The Mission Flats landfill has a wide range of diversion programs on-site to
keep waste from being permanently landfilled. Most Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional
(ICI) waste disposal occurs at the Owl Road landfill;

• The City provides curbside collection of recyclable materials for single family homes using
trucks that can collect recyclable and non-recyclable waste at the same time. The City also
operates several recycling depots throughout the community for people who do not have
access to the curbside recycling program. Recyclable materials are sent to the Emterra
Environmental site in Valleyview where they are sorted and transported to other recycling
reprocessing companies;

• The City operates three yard waste collection depots with composting of yard waste
occurring at the Cinnamon Ridge site near the airport;

• There are several bottle depots located in the City that collect recyclable waste that can be
returned for money (i.e. bottles, cans, tetra packs, etc.); and

• Electronic waste is collected at General Grant’s Bottle Depot on Fortune Drive and the Lorne
Street Bottle Depot on Kamloops Indian Band.

Solid Waste Facilities

Missions Flats landfill is expected to serve until 2053 while the Barnhartvale is expected to close
in 2017. Mission Flats is the City’s primary disposal site and also hosts a range of diversion
activities (i.e. scrap metal, white goods, tires, concrete, etc.) as well as the ‘drop shop’ where
used goods can be resold. The Owl Road landfill in Valleyview is privately owned and handles ICI
waste .

The City operates 4 recycling depots located in Valleyview, Ord Road, and McGill Road. In
addition, there are also four bottle depots in Kamloops that are operated independently of the
City of Kamloops. All recycling is dropped off at the Emterra Environmental site in Valleyview.

The City operates three yard waste collection facilities. The main site is at Cinnamon Ridge
where the yard waste is also composted. Secondary sites are located at the end of McGill Road
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and at the Barnhartvale Landfill, from which yard waste collected there is delivered to Cinnamon
Ridge.

In addition, there are numerous businesses that play a role in various elements of solid waste
collection and disposal. These include used oil collectors, used battery collectors, office paper
recycling and shredding, etc.

Solid Waste Financing

In 2008, the City spent approximately $6.6 million for solid waste operations and capital
expenditures. The City funds this through a combination of dedicated fees and general taxation.
The utility charge for recycling is $36.30 per year while the fee for solid waste collection is $110
per year plus $10 for a container lease (fees based on the default container size).

Solid Waste Composition

Solid waste in Kamloops is composed of a wide range of materials. The City sorts and classifies
waste as it enters the Mission Flats landfill. Table 1 summarizes solid waste that is disposed of
at the Mission Flats landfill.

Table 1 – Mission Flats Solid Waste Composition

2006 2007 2008

In Bound Materials Tonnes Tonnes Tonnes
Asphalt divert for road material 90 972 1,243
BioSolids from WWTC topsoil for final seeding 4,083 6,715 25,037
Cardboard Sold to IPI 25 27 28
Clean Fill divert for cover material 17,529 13,879 10,961
Concrete divert for road material 3,618 5,940 7,557
Drop & Shop Items diverted for sales 50 40 40
Metal sold to AMIX 1,188 1,254 824
Road Millings divert for road material 957 0 856
Road Gravels divert for road material 0 945 109
Winter Sand divert for road material 0 0 203
Road Sweepings divert for road material 0 0 1,934
Wood Chips for wet roads divert for road material 0 0 218
Newsprint sold to IPI 3 6 2
Paint Product Care 31 71 76
Solvents & Pesticides Product Care 1 2 2
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Table 1 – Mission Flats Solid Waste Composition (cont… )

In Bound Materials 2006 2007 2008

Tonnes Tonnes Tonnes
Propane Tanks Product Care 0 6 13
Lead Acid Batteries Product Care 18 37 41
Misc Recycling 0 6
Tires Tire Recycler 4 16 85
Diversion Total 27,597 29,919 49,228
Large Wood & Stumps 518 235 616
Special waste other than above 0 0 19
Wastewater Screenings 0 25
Industrial, Commercial, and
14,621 16,625 15,999
Institutional (ICI)
Asbestos 36 43 120
Animal Carcasses 33 17 14
Construction & Demolition 7,542 7,926 10,848
Demo Landclearing 82 68 409
Free Municipal Solid Waste 416 225
Green & Yard Waste 560 611 671
Household Waste 19,422 21,397 19,177
Waste from recycling depots 0 2 2
Gyproc 213 301 527
Waste Landfilled 43,444 47,477 48,402

Grand total all materials entering site - (tonnes) 71,041 77,396 97,630

On-Site Diversion Rate 39% 39% 50%

As can be seen, the amount of solid waste landfilled has increased by nearly 9% over the last
three years. Construction and Demolition Waste resulted in the greatest increases in solid waste
landfilled from 2006 – 2008. Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (ICI) waste also
contributed to increases in the amount of waste landfilled, while household waste decreased
slightly in this time.

A more detailed Waste Composition Study was undertaken at Mission Flats landfill in 2006 which
examined the type of waste that was being disposed, particularly as part of Household and
Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional waste. It was found that 25% of the waste was organic
(yard and garden clippings, and food waste), while paper and paperboard products comprised
over 20% of the waste. This represents a portion of waste that could potentially be diverted
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from the landfill. The implementation of a curbside recycling program in March 2008 which
expanded the range of materials collected would likely change significantly waste composition.

Approximately 4000 tonnes of waste was recycled through the curbside collection program in
2008 while 1200 tonnes of waste was recycled through the recycling depots.

Solid Waste Per Capita

Another way to characterize solid waste is to determine how much we are disposing per capita.
Table 2 compares Kamloops solid waste landfilled to other jurisdictions around BC as indicated in
the 2006 BC Municipal Solid Waste Tracking Report.

Table 2 – Comparison of Solid Waste Landfilled

City Tonnes/Capita/Year Year

Kamloops 0.60 2008

Thompson Nicola Regional District 1.07 2006

Regional District of Central Okanagan (Kelowna) 0.85 2006

Regional District of Nanaimo 0.50 2005

Fraser Fort George 0.92 2006

Greater Vancouver 0.59 2006

North Okanagan 0.77 2006

BC 0.61 2006

Canada (Conference Board of Canada) 0.79 2005

The per capita solid waste generated in Kamloops is 0.6 tonnes per person per year. This
compares with the BC average of 0.61 (2006).

GOALS

• The City of Kamloops’ primary goal is to reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfill.

TARGET

• Reduce solid waste landfilled to 0.3 tonnes per capita by 2020 (50% reduction).

• Reduce solid waste landfilled to 0.1 tonnes per capita by 2050 (85% reduction).
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• Extend the potential service life of the Mission Flats landfill to 2090, assuming that no wastes
are re-directed to this facility from the Owl Road landfill.

PROPOSED DIRECTION

City Operations

• Review City purchasing practices, as well as use of materials at City facilities, in order to
identify solid waste reduction, re-use and recycling opportunities.

City Influencing Community

• Investigate a range of potential actions to divert additional waste from the landfill, including:

- multi-family residential recycling program;

- ban of recyclable materials from the landfill;

- increase in tipping fees at landfill;

- less-frequent curbside collection of non-recyclables; and

- other measures.

City Working With Others

• Build public awareness of the benefits of reduced product packaging and encourage
consumers to consider less-packaged products when making purchasing decisions.