Tipping fees for mixed waste will increase July 1 from $200 a ton to $205. Powell River Regional District directors adopted a bylaw amendment increasing the fee at the May 24 board meeting.
The last tipping fee increase was April 1, 2009.
According to a staff report, the $5 per ton increase should result in tipping fee revenues, net of export costs, of about $219,093, compared to $269,117 in 2011 and $283,156 in 2010. The revenue is used to offset recycling and drop-off depot service costs.
The mixed waste tipping fee increase was included in the 2012-2016 financial plan. Linda Greenan, manager of financial services, went over the information with directors in March before the board adopted the plan.
As well, the report Greenan prepared for directors on the tipping fee increase states, “The 2012 budget assumes a $5 per ton increase to the mixed waste tipping fee to take effect July 1, 2012. This increase was deemed necessary to compensate for the increased handling and recycling costs.”
Greenan said the increase was needed partly because all of the costs associated with handling and disposing of waste have gone up and partly because there is less waste being collected.
The regional district contracts with Augusta Recyclers Inc. to operate a waste transfer station for municipal solid waste, which is shipped to a landfill in Washington. The regional district also contracts with Augusta to operate a recycling program.
On April 2, 2012, Augusta increased tipping fees for construction and demolition (C&D) waste by 21 per cent, from $165 a ton to $200 a ton, the same as the tipping fee for mixed waste. Augusta said costs to ship the waste to a landfill in Richmond had risen, so it switched to the same landfill used for mixed waste.
While the regional district sets the tipping fees for mixed waste, tipping fees for C&D waste are listed in an agreement between the regional district and Augusta for the processing and sale of recyclable materials. The agreement states that any increase to the fees may not exceed the increase in the consumer price index. However, it also states, “The contractor may request consent from the regional district for further increases to reflect cost increases beyond the contractor’s control and such a request shall not be unreasonably refused.”
Augusta wrote a letter on May 10 notifying the regional district that it was raising the tipping fee for C&D waste.
Bruce Long, Augusta manager, told the Peak the company had not decided yet whether it was going to raise the fee for C&D waste to match the new fee.
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