Whistler’s new waste transfer station received its first
shipment of trash Monday.
Owen Carney, the owner of Carney’s Waste Systems, was on-hand
to oversee operations and ensure there was a smooth transition after the move
from the old site near Function Junction.
The new facility is located in the Callaghan area, south of the
old site and off of Highway 99. Its massive gravel lot boasts two shiny, new
buildings — one for garbage and one for recycling — and is
encircled by a fence topped with barbed wire to keep bears out.
Construction equipment is still scattered throughout the site,
a testament to the recent completion of the new buildings.
Work began last fall, and it appears that the new transfer
station was completed just in time: Carney said the old site has already been
torn down to make way for the athletes’ village.
“VANOC and the athletes’ village are putting a water main or
something straight through the middle of where it was,” Carney said Monday.
At the new facility, garbage trucks are first weighed, and then
directed to either the recycling or garbage drop off buildings to deposit their
contents for sorting.
Carney pointed out that the new buildings give crews much more
room to sort the garbage, to ensure that recyclables don’t end up in a
landfill.
The remaining trash is then pushed from an elevated platform
into a container waiting below, destined for a landfill in eastern Washington.
On a tour of the facility, Carney also pointed out a smaller
adjacent lot at the end of the site, which will soon be home to the composting
facility he recently sold to the RMOW. He said construction for the new
facility should begin soon.
The Resort Municipality of Whistler built and paid for the new
facilities, but Carney’s was involved in designing the station, and will be
responsible for day-to-day operations.
And since compacting sites at Function Junction and Nesters will
remain open for business as usual, the new site won’t have much impact on
people disposing of household waste.
But waste from commercial projects or developments will have to
be brought to the new facility, and at a higher cost. Now, instead of a $5 flat
fee, people will pay $110 per metric tonne.
The new facility will also run on a slightly reduced schedule — from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.