The Township of Spallumcheen wants out of recycling.
Council unanimously passed a motion directing staff to request that the township be included as an addendum in request for proposals (RFPs) by Multi-Material B.C. (MMBC) for the collecting and recycling of packaging and printed paper.
The township currently has a contract with Tip-It Waste Solutions for blue bag curbside recycling, which expires Dec. 31. Staff has also been directed to negotiate a five-and-a-half month extension with the company.
“If Spallumcheen can be added to the RFP from MMBC, the charge for the blue bag recycling included on property tax notices would be approximately $7.14 for 2014,” wrote Spallumcheen chief financial officer Brian Freeman-Marsh in a report to council.
“Spallumcheen would then be out of the recycling business.”
MMBC is launching a new recycling program on May 19, 2014. Its program will be similar to the blue bag curbside program operated by Spall as part of the Regional District of North Okanagan solid waste management program.
MMBC offered financial incentives to local governments if they wanted to be the operators of the MMBC program, and they also had first right of refusal to operate the recycling program for MMBC.
RDNO declined offers of financial incentives, and all RDNO member municipalities and electoral areas were issued RFPs except for Spallumcheen, which runs its own program, and Area E. MMBC also issued RFPs for post-collection services as well as depot and multi-family collection services.
“We’re not sure what’s going to happen until January,” said Nicole Kohnert, RDNO’s manager of environmental services. “We won’t know who is collecting or processing until that time.”
As May 19, 2014 is the start of the MMBC program, that’s why council voted to negotiate an extension with Tip-It Waste Solutions until May 16, 2014.
