Illegal dumping is being blamed for driving up the cost to taxpayers of operating two public recycling depots in Coquitlam.
Jozsef Dioszeghy, the city’s general manager of engineering and public works, said it now costs taxpayers $500,000 a year to operate the two facilities, one in Town Centre Park, the other on Mariner Way.
He noted that the average cost of processing recycled material at the depot works out to approximately $800 per ton compared to $50 per ton charged by the Coquitlam Transfer Station (CTS) on United Boulevard that is operated by Wastech.
“It is a huge discrepancy,” Dioszeghy said during Monday’s committee meeting.
As a result, city staff are recommending council approve closing the two facilities.
Dioszeghy said the depots are convenient for residents to access but redundant given that the municipality already offers curbside collection and larger recyclables can be dropped off for free at CTS. The city also offers four large-item pickups per year.
But more discussion will likely need to take place before council makes a decision.
Mayor Richard Stewart said another option put forward by staff, which looks at closing the Mariner Way depot and staffing the Town Centre facility, may be more prudent.
“I am reluctant to close them both,” he said, adding that people in multi-family developments may rely on the depots for disposing of their recyclables.
Others around the council table were less convinced.
Coun. Dennis Marsden said staffing would be costly, noting that the depot would likely have to be open between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. seven days a week. But he also acknowledged that closing the depots could lead to an uptick in illegal dumping in the city.
Meanwhile, Coun. Terry O’Neill noted that closing both facilities could lead to the private sector playing a larger role in the disposal of recyclable materials.
“I believe the private sector is doing a very good job,” he said. “I do most of my recycling curbside and at private centres. There are a lot of them around.”
The staff report also noted the results of an online survey that found people that use the depot want to see things like plastic bags, styrofoam and batteries added to the list of accepted items. Only 24% of respondents said they would be willing to pay more in utility fees to provide the additional service.
Most of the survey respondents said they were aware of the CTS and the Encorp Return-It depots, and a large percentage had taken advantage of the services in the last six months.
According to the city staff report, Metro Vancouver will stop funding the CTS facility at the end of December. But the three Tri-City municipalities have agreed to a funding arrangement that will keep the depot operating in the area until 2019.
After that, Metro Vancouver is expected to build a new recycling depot as part of its new transfer station facility in the area, however a funding agreement still needs to be worked out.
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