Nearly half of all items sent to Hartland Landfill last year could have been diverted: CRD

(Capital Regional District/Facebook)

The Capital Regional District says nearly one out of every two objects sent to the Hartland Landfill in 2022 could have been diverted through existing programs.

The CRD's most recent solid waste stream composition study found that approximately 47 per cent of all materials received at the landfill could have been diverted through existing waste diversion or recycling programs, instead of making their way to the dump.

The study is conducted once every five years so the CRD can review a snapshot of what's being sent to the Hartland Landfill.

This year's study was delayed a year by the pandemic. Between 2016 and 2022, there was a decrease of 16.7 per cent in organic waste being sent to the landfill, according to the CRD.

The change is partly due to the CRD's ban on organic waste being put in regular garbage, which began in 2015.

Wood and wood products accounted for the largest single material stream at the landfill, accounting for 18.9 per cent of total waste sent to the dump in 2022.

Organics was the second-largest material stream, accounting for 16.7 per cent of waste at the landfill.

The amount of construction and demolition waste also inched upwards by 6.6 per cent in 2022 compared to 2016, accounting for a total of 13.3 per cent of all waste at the landfill last year.

The CRD says the increase is partly due to the closure of the Highwest Landfill in 2021, and because of a booming real estate market in the region.

"The results of the 2022 Solid Waste Stream Composition Study will guide our efforts to increase diversion and education programs in the community, as we work towards our goal of reducing waste disposal by one-third by 2031," said CRD board chair Colin Plant in a release Wednesday.

"I invite residents and businesses to visit our website to learn more about how they can help us achieve this important target," he said.

The CRD notes that 2,108 tonnes of Class A biosolids were spread over the Hartland Landfill in 2022 due to "unplanned operational issues" at the Larfage Canada cement plant in Richmond, B.C.

The CRD originally planned to ship all of its Class A biosolids to the cement plant under its short-term "biosolids beneficial use strategy."

When that wasn't possible, the CRD spread some of the biosolids over the landfill, accounting for 1.1 per cent of total waste at the landfill in 2022.

Recently, the CRD board voted to ship some of the biosolids to Nanaimo to be used as forest fertilizer to divert it away from its own landfill and Lafarge.

The CRD hopes to have a long-term plan for the biosolids in place by 2025.  

• Get the CTV News App for breaking Vancouver Island news alerts