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Whistler's done with big dumps

RMOW Policy and Program Development It’s a funny thing about Whistler how journalists from around the globe who want to sound Whistler-wise revel in revealing the fact Whistler Village is built on this valley’s original garbage dump.
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RMOW Policy and Program Development

It’s a funny thing about Whistler how journalists from around the globe who want to sound Whistler-wise revel in revealing the fact Whistler Village is built on this valley’s original garbage dump. Building a beautiful mountain village on a landfill is not something we should be ashamed of.

With all due respect to Joni Mitchell, Whistler did not “Pave paradise and put up a parking lot.” We “Covered the landfill and put up a paradise.” Still, the trash circle remains unbroken.

On B.C. Day 2007, Whistler dumped the word dump forever and opened a state of the art Waste Transfer and Recycling Station on municipal land near the entrance to the Callaghan Valley, 6.4 kilometres from Function Junction. Interestingly, the site of the old dump is now the site of the newest ‘village’. The 2010 Athletes’ Village will be Whistler’s newest neighbourhood and the greenest component of a history of brownfield (previously impacted industrial lands) development that Whistler should be proud of.

The most recent Whistler landfill has been capped and the methane produced by our ghosts of trash past are now collected and flared, currently reducing the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) associated with methane percolation by over 20,000 tonnes CO2e annually. While the residential portions of the athletes’ village will be outside the old landfill footprint, the actual dump area will become recreational fields, complementing this new neighbourhood and continuing Whistler’s commitment to brownfield redevelopment and re-use.

These factors, combined with the shipping of our landfill waste to the large Rabanco Landfill in Roosevelt, Washington — where the methane is collected and used to generate electricity — are helping Whistler to innovate when it comes to solid waste management and GHG reductions. It has been well reported of late Whistler’s GHG emissions are on the rise, but actions such as flaring landfill methane and promoting the three R’s — Reduce, Reuse, Recycle — at our new transfer site will lower overall GHG emissions and reduce the associated transportation emissions associated with shipping our waste down south. This was the logic in 2005 when Whistler decided to transport our landfill waste outside of the community. Truck and rail transport to Rabanco adds up to around 380 tonnes per year. Comparatively, 2005 estimates for expanding Whistler’s Landfill had a 25 year period of GHG emissions of 321,000 tonnes. When we’re talking trash, Whistler has made some important decisions.

Notwithstanding, the new Callaghan Waste Transfer Station is a greenfield development, the site was carefully considered with Whistler’s long term waste management plan options and Whistler2020 in mind. In total $4.75 million, including the decommissioning and reuse of material from the old landfill, will be invested in the project and will address two key components of the Whistler2020 Materials and Solid Waste Strategy Description of Success: “The resort community is ‘closing the loop’ by providing appropriate and convenient opportunities for reducing, reusing and recycling materials;” and, “Whistler is well on its way to achieving its ‘zero waste’ goal.” We’re not there yet, but we are moving in the right direction.

Another key component of the new Callaghan site, will be the integration of an organic composter purchased from Carney’s Waste Systems, who operate the RMOW-managed waste transfer site. Once complete, the compost facility will be able to accept 50 tonnes of compostable material per day, including biosolids removed from treated effluent at the soon to be upgraded Whistler Wastewater Treatment Plant, for a two-tunnel total of 18,000 tonnes per year. This compostable material will come from Sea to Sky restaurants, homes and businesses. Add to this plans by the Whistler Community Services Society to create in the Callaghan a “Re-Build it Centre” modeled after the astronomically successful “Re-Use it Centre” and Whistler will be on the front edge of waste management ideas in action.

To KNOW MORE about other actions that are moving our community toward Whistler2020, or to find out how we’re performing visit www.whistler2020.ca.

Trash Talk

Waste Diversion

• In 2006, 38 per cent of Whistler's solid material waste was recycled or composted.

• The three-year average diversion rate trend increased by 11 per cent due to increased recycling/composting at the recycling centre and by commercial businesses.

• Composting from commercial operations grew five times between 2003 and 2006, from 456.4 tonnes to 2,795 tonnes, and contributed most to the overall waste diversion increase over the three-year average.

• A decrease in the three-year average diversion rates at residential compactor sites occurred due to reductions in mixed paper/newsprint and cardboard collected.

Total Landfilled Waste

• In 2006, 14,404 tonnes of waste was sent to the landfill. In 2005, the amount per population equivalent was 0.6 tonnes and the Whistler Environmental Strategy Interim Target is 0.4 tonnes.

• The three-year average and year to year total waste landfilled has declined 6 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. The waste landfilled per population equivalent decreased by 9 per cent from 2004 to 2005.

• Construction/commercial landfilled waste and landfill waste collected in the community compactor located by Nesters is decreasing on a three-year average, contributing to the overall decrease. Construction waste experienced the greatest relative decline over the period.

• Commercial landfilled waste increased year to year between 2005 and 2006.

Source: Whistler2020 2006 Community Monitoring Report