Whistler’s new waste depot is officially up and running.
The facility, located at 8010 Nesters Road, opened for operations on Aug. 10. The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) purchased the piece of land in 2012 to “help manage the increased waste management needs of the community,” according to a release. Reconstruction at the site began last year.
Among the new features at the depot is a permanent yard waste bin, equipment to rinse out organic bins after use, and a canopy giving drivers the ability to park their vehicles into parking stalls to sort recycling under cover during less-than-ideal weather conditions.
Recyclables, organic waste and waste for landfill can be dropped off at the depot between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily. Residents will also be able to access the new Regional Recycling building at the site from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on holidays) in order to drop off recyclables such as refundable bottles, scrap metal, electronics, paint, lightbulbs, and more.
Construction on the new Whistler Community Services Society building and Re-Use-It Centre, which will also be located at the Nesters site, will begin in the fall, with plans to open in 2018.
Last year, just under 38,000 metric tonnes of waste were produced in Whistler, including 13,000 tonnes of organic waste, which had historically been sent to the landfill. Now, organics are sent to the municipal composting facility. More than a quarter of Whistler’s waste in 2016 — 28 per cent — not including organics, was diverted from the landfill through recycling stewardship programs.
Learn more at www.whistler.ca/solidwaste.
