A Victoria city councillor is proposing that cruise ships pay a higher fee for dumping garbage at the Hartland Landfill.
In a motion coming to a committee of the whole on Thursday, Coun. Ben Isitt is asking that council work with the Capital Regional District (CRD) to increase tipping fees in an effort to dissuade dumping at the site. Recently the CRD identified that it hopes to delay expanding its landfill capacity, which would require the excavation of the eastern slope of Mt. Work. The CRD is also hoping to better manage the amount and content of waste coming into the site, of which 60 per cent is recyclable or compostable.
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The motion comes forward after councillors passed a motion in October asking the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) to limit its expansion plans until it reduces the environmental impacts of the cruise ship industry.
“Council has directed staff to work with the Capital Regional District to explore mechanisms to limit the volume of international solid waste being offloaded from cruise ships at Odgen Point and transported to the CRD-operated Hartland Landfill,” Isitt wrote in the recent motion.
READ MORE: Victoria councillors aim to halt harbour authority cruise ship expansion plans
Isitt put forward the motion after reviewing policies currently in place in Prince Rupert.
According to Andy Orr, the CRD’s senior manager for corporate communications, in the summer months cruise ships contribute approximately 150 tonnes per month to the landfill; on average the landfill sees 10-12,000 tonnes of waste.
“We already differentiate it and charge $157 a tonne, as opposed to $110 for general waste,” Orr said in an emailed statement. “This is because we are not sure of content and so deal with it in a more controlled way.”
If council votes to forward the request, fee structures would be put forward for a vote from the CRD board.
Isitt was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
