Why Plan? Why we need to plan:

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1 Welcome! We need to hear from you. Please enjoy a walk through our displays and feel free to ask questions. Use your dots red, yellow and green to indicate your level of support for various programs. Select as many options as you like. Please use one dot per option. Thank you for your time, energy and input!

2 Why Plan? The Regional Solid Waste Management Plan sets our course of action for the next 10 years for how we will reduce and manage our waste and recycling. Your input will help determine which programs will be included in the plan. Why we need to plan: Reduce waste going to local landfills. It s up to all of us to make the best use of our current landfill space and limit the need to site new ones Meet the demand for more recycling and composting options Create new programs for recycling organics (e.g. kitchen scraps, food waste and yard waste) Provide more opportunities to reduce hazardous materials in our environment and our landfills by providing more options to recycle these materials and encouraging people to use them Make the best use of our tax dollars by planning ahead.

3 What s in our Landfills? The organic portion of our garbage (e.g. food waste, kitchen scraps, yard waste) is the single largest component of our trash. If we can compost rather than landfill we can reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill AND the amount of greenhouses gases generated by decomposing organic waste. There is a significant amount of waste generated by construction, renovation and demolition activities. Much of this waste is recyclable or reusable. Construction 10% Other 9% Hazardous Residue 1% 1% Paper 10% Glass 1% Metals 10% Although we have extensive recycling programs in place, this shows there is room for improvement. Textiles 4% Bulky Goods 4% Brown Goods 1% Plastic 12% Organics 40% Our goal! While RDOS residents and businesses have done a great job in reducing waste, diverting over 50% of waste so far, we still need to make better use of our landfill space. The programs proposed in this draft plan could see a reduction in the amount of garbage by more than 70%, saving valuable landfill space and better protecting the environment!

4 Guiding Principles This Solid Waste Management Plan was supervised, developed and vetted with the help of a Public Advisory Committee made up of local citizens and a Technical Advisory Committee made up of solid waste specialists, business, government, First Nations and industry representatives. Our Guiding Principles were developed in consultation with both Committees. The Guiding Principles will be used to help make decisions about potential new programs. In general, new programs should: Maximize the amount of waste we can reduce Be cost-effective, consider both short and long term costs and implications Have clear and measurable targets Inform and engage all sectors of the community Reduce other environmental impacts on our air, water and land Be efficient, flexible and simple Encourage and support options that create local business and employment opportunities Develop effective partnerships with member municipalities, private and non-profit agencies, neighbouring regional districts, other levels of government and First Nations to deliver programs Take into account the need for securing future disposal capacity for the region (e.g. new landfills, expand existing landfills or waste-to-energy), recognizing the capacity limits of the current landfills.

5 Coming Soon! New Recycling and Yard Waste Collection Changes for 2011 Improvements to household residential collection services: Increasing yard waste collections to bi-weekly for Penticton, Oliver and Osoyoos Changing curbside recycling to bi-weekly to allow for increased yard waste collection in Penticton Bi-weekly yard waste collection starts July 1, 2011 in Penticton and Oliver and May 1 in Osoyoos. Yard waste can now be placed out in reusable containers or compostable Kraft paper bags. Plastic bags are being phased out in Penticton, Oliver, Osoyoos and Summerland. Pick up our flyer for more info! New! Glass now accepted at recycling depots only! To reduce contamination from broken glass, starting July 1st, glass jars and bottles will no longer be collected for recycling in Penticton, Oliver, Osoyoos, Keremeos and RDOS rural areas. Instead, residents and businesses can bring container glass to local depots. Glass only makes up about 4% of recycling by weight, yet it is costly to collect as glass needs to be collected separately from other recyclables. Broken glass can contaminate paper and plastic if collected together. The glass collected will be crushed and used at local landfills to help cover garbage and build roads saving local governments money while extending the life of our landfills.

6 Key Options Proposed for Households Estimated timelines Approx Continue the Master Recycler / Composter Program volunteers can help others learn how to compost and recycle. Ask for more info! Continue to sell backyard composters at a discount to encourage more people to compost. Create more compost demonstration sites where you can learn how to compost or have your questions answered. Apex Alpine: Set up a garbage and recycling depot. Carmi: Introduce curbside collection services garbage, recycling and yard waste. Multi-Family Recycling Require all new multi-family developments (e.g. apartments and condos) to set aside space for recycling. Develop local regulations to ensure that all multi-family buildings have a recycling collection service. Household Organics Composting and Curbside Collection Build a regional composting facility that can process all of our organic waste from both our homes and businesses (e.g. yard waste, kitchen scraps and biosolids the dewatered waste from our sewage treatment plants). Start curbside food waste collection, once the regional composting facility is in place (anticipated for 2017). Collection would include organics, such as kitchen scraps like vegetable waste, coffee grounds, bones, meats, grains, dairy, even paper towels! Ban food waste from curbside garbage collection once curbside food waste collection is in place. Education and Promotion Continue education and promotion to increase awareness and action to reduce and better manage the waste we create. For example, Environmental Mind Grind for schools, brochures, info for media, annual calendar and the recycling hotline. Look at new ways to spread the word, like Facebook and Twitter. Introduce new education campaigns to reduce single-use items (like coffee cups or grocery bags) and promote opportunities to reuse like local second hand stores. Increase education to ensure residents know where and how to dispose of household hazardous waste. Got a recycling question? Call the Recycling Hotline: Or check out the Recyclepedia at Collecting food waste means that 26,000 tonnes of kitchen scraps can be turned into reusable compost each year, instead of taking up landfill space and creating greenhouse gas emissions. RDOS residents produce an average 2.15 kg of waste per day. That s more than a medium-sized bag of sugar every day!

7 Key Options Proposed for Business Estimated timelines Approx Maintain and promote the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Program. Start a Business Technical Assistance Program to provide help setting up or improving recycling and waste manage - ment programs. Recycling Require all new commercial developments to set aside space for recycling. Develop local regulations to ensure that all businesses have recycling collection services. (Collection to be handled privately and/or possibly by local government). Develop an Agricultural Waste Composting Assistance Program to help our farmers, orchardists and viticulturalists set up composting systems and reduce burning. Construction and Demolition (C&D) Maintain Okanagan Falls Landfill as a disposal site for C&D waste. Provide recycling opportunities at all disposal facilities for source-separated C&D waste. Encourage the private and non-profit sectors to set up C&D recycling and reuse operations. Develop a 3Rs education program for the C&D industry to help them manage and reduce waste. Consider regulatory approaches to reduce waste generated by C&D activities. Commercial Organics Composting Program Build a regional composting facility that can process all of our organic waste from homes and businesses. Give consideration to providing food waste collection to small and medium size businesses through the residential collection program. Require large generators of food waste to separate food waste from regular garbage. Ban food waste from being buried in landfills once the composting facility is in place. Develop a Compost Marketing Strategy for using or selling the finished product. Organic waste makes up 40% of the waste in our landfills and is a major contributor to our greenhouse gas emissions. Removing organics will conserve valuable landfill space and reduce our carbon footprint.

8 Key Options Proposed for Landfills, Transfer Stations, Wood Waste Management Estimated timelines Approx Maintain wood waste drop-off at landfills where wood is chipped for reuse instead of buried in the landfill. Maintain and promote the recycling services available at the local landfill sites for waste materials such as scrap metals, wood waste, paint, motor oil, etc. Enforce bans on burying materials that can be readily recycled instead of landfilled. This will also help support private recyclers and nonprofits by making it less expensive to use their recycling services rather than throwing it in the landfill. Seek to standardize tipping fees across the region, making them fair to all. Undertake a siting study for a regional composting facility / multi-purpose waste management site. Develop a disaster debris management plan to help us be better prepared for fires and floods. Conduct a waste composition study to determine what s going into our local landfills so we can identify opportunities to improve our programs. Move towards a full user pay system for landfills. The cost to operate landfills would be paid by those that use them the more you use, the more you pay. Continue to provide financial incentives for separating waste, like clean wood and yard waste, at landfills the more you recycle, the less you pay. Landfills Maximize use of the existing landfill space. Ensure landfills meet all provincial regulations. Waste-to-Energy Investigate future options for waste-to-energy (where high temperatures are used to combust waste and produce energy). Plan Monitoring Establish a committee to help monitor the plans, progress and annual reporting to ensure we are on track and meeting our goals. Landfills account for about 38% of Canada s total methane emissions, mostly from decomposing organic materials like food waste. Methane is over 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Source: RCBC

9 Key Options Proposed for Special Programs Estimated timelines Approx Maintain household hazardous waste depot at Campbell Mtn. landfill and Product Care Depot at Oliver landfill. Improve access to and education about products accepted under the Provincial Extended Producer Responsibility programs, like batteries, waste paints and used motor oil. If private sector locations are not available, consider use of local government facilities, like landfills or depots. Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, is where the cost to recycle or safely dispose of certain hazardous products, like waste paint or pesticides, is paid for by the people who make it, the people who sell it and the people who buy it. You can bring most household hazardous wastes to locations throughout the RDOS at no additional charge, since the eco-fees were paid at time of purchase. Check www. rcbc.bc.ca for the location nearest you, or call the Recycling Hotline at for more info. Become a Bear Smart Community. This entails a regional program of education, stakeholder consultation, set out time or container requirements for garbage, electric fencing at landfills, new development requirements and new wildlife bylaws. Maintain and promote the illegal dumping program. Consideration of a bylaw that places the responsibility for proper disposal on the waste generator. Consider developing codes of practice for composting facilities and scrap metal dealers to ensure best management practices are followed. Community Clean Up! Organize a community clean up and the RDOS will provide free bags, signage, help with disposal and waive the tipping fee. Report Illegal Dumping! Call NO DUMP or by at info@rdos.bc.ca

10 The Cost of Managing our Waste There is a cost to managing our waste, paid through a combination of taxes, utility bills and tipping fees. Overall, costs associated with the plan will vary: by area when they start how the costs will be shared among users if grant funding, reserves, sponsorships or revenue from the sale of finished compost is available to help offset some costs. Estimated Expenditure ($ millions) Current New programs and landfill improvements Regional composting facility comes on line Current annual expenditure (regional & municipal) There are other savings: Reduce costs to manage landfills with less garbage Extend lifespan of landfills Postpone the need to build costly new landfills or waste-to-energy facility Reduce Greenhouse Gases equal to taking 10,000 Honda Civics off the road! Be responsible about our waste and not leave it for future generations! Per Capita Disposal Rate Projected Landfill Savings.79 tonnes.64 tonnes.43 tonnes

11 We Need to Hear from You!! Your input is important in helping shape the future of our region. Please indicate your preferences: Place your red, yellow and green dots to mark your level of support Fill in one of our feedback forms. Feedback on the plan will be accepted until Tuesday, May 24, For more info Visit: Phone: Thank you!