The Regional District of Bulkley Nechako (RDBN) is reinstating the ban on industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) cardboard at the Knockholt Landfill and Smithers/Telkwa Transfer Station, starting Dec. 6 this year.
Earlier in August this year, the regional district suspended the ban at the facility on a month-by-month basis hoping to come up with an alternative solution. According to the latest press release, a new facility is being considered in the Smithers area.
“There is a private company that is working on establishing a bailing facility. They have secured a location and are working towards putting together the facility to accept ICI cardboard,” said RDBN’s Chief Administrative Officer Curtis Helgesen, adding that while the regional district had hoped to have the facility up and running by December, it now looks like it will start latest by February 1, 2021.
Last year, in May 2019, a fire destroyed the receiving facility in Smithers which led to the Knockholt landfill being the receiving facility for ICI cardboard from the entire western part of the RDBN. When the dumping of all the additional material started to threaten the stability of the landfill due to the extra volume of waste, the RDBN started looking for alternative solutions for ICI cardboard disposal.
Until the facility is ready to accept ICI cardboard, the ban would mean that the businesses and institutions that have been using the landfill to get rid of their cardboard waste would have to divert their cardboard waste for recycling in neighbouring jurisdictions. The regional district is also in the process of finding solutions for self-haulers and some of the solutions that are currently being proposed are contracting a waste hauler currently handling such waste or short-term storage or stock piling of the material until the facility is open for receiving.
The ban is only applicable to ICI cardboard and does not extend to residential cardboard under the Recycle BC program at the Recycling depot.
Earlier this year, the RDBN also closed down its Reuse-Sheds. “Our reuse sheds remain closed at this time, but it is something we are evaluating regularly,” said Helgesen.
