The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) has received six million dollars in federal funding for the Alberni Valley Landfill.
The funding comes from the federal gas tax fund, and will be used for the Consolidated Strategic Landfill Diversion Program to reduce the amount of waste that goes into the landfill.
Organic diversion within the ACRD is required in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the Alberni Valley and West Coast Landfills. If the Regional District does not move to separate organics from their landfill, an expensive methane gas capture system might be required, instead, based on province-wide citeria for landfill gas capture from solid waste landfills.
This Landfill Diversion project will improve the regional district’s environmental impact by managing kitchen and yard wastes at the Bamfield Transfer Station and by diverting organics from their two landfills and reducing greenhouse gases.
The estimated total cost of the project is $7,425,472.
READ: City of Port Alberni gets serious about kitchen waste
“The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District would like to thank the Government of Canada for their funding support for a much needed organics diversion program for the communities within the Regional District,” said ACRD chair John Jack. “The ACRD communities are committed to reducing their environmental footprint. This project would be one step along the way towards a more sustainable community and create an environment where diversion, composting and recycling will reduce GHG emissions and promote a diversity of local employment.”
The city of Port Alberni has been pushing for a kitchen and yard waste collection service, voting in November to replace their current residential garbage trucks with new trucks that have a split body design for kitchen and garden waste.
READ: City to spend close to $1 million on new garbage trucks