Municipal Solid Waste
Under Environmental Management Act (EMA) Municipal Solid Waste is defined as:
(a) refuse that originates from residential, commercial, institutional, demolition, land clearing or construction sources, or
(b) refuse specified by a director to be included in a waste management plan.
2012 Draft Municipal Waste diversion Calculator for Consultation
In the 1990s, limited landfill space and the rise of sustainable communities led to the goal of diverting waste from our landfills. Many jurisdictions established diversion and reduction targets including BC. Today many local governments in BC are committed to 70% or higher waste diversion goals.
In 2010, the Ministry of Environment (the ministry) commissioned Kelleher Environment to summarize in a report how other jurisdictions reported or calculated waste diversion. This report reviewed the Generally Accepted Principles (GAP) methodology as well as other methods to calculate waste diversion. For a copy of the final report, please click here.
Using the consultant’s report as a starting point, the ministry then formed the Waste Diversion Calculator Working Group (working group) to develop a draft calculator to meet the specific needs of local governments in British Columbia. This working group consisted of four regional districts (Capital Regional District, Metro Vancouver, Regional District of Nanaimo, and Regional District of North Okanagan) as well as ministry staff. After reviewing the commissioned report, and after much discussion, the working group agreed on a methodology and produced a draft municipal waste diversion calculator.
For a copy of a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes the Kelleher Environment report and explains the development of the calculator, please click here.
The ministry is now seeking broader consultation input on the draft waste diversion calculator. For a copy of the calculator, please click here.
The ministry will consult on the calculator at various conferences, webinars as well as through this webpage. Please visit this webpage periodically for a listing of our consultation sessions and webinars once we have confirmed dates and times.
This calculator was first presented at a workshop on March 30, 2012 organized by the Solid Waste Association of North America Pacific Chapter- BC and Yukon.
If you wish to provide comments on the draft calculator or have questions, please email all comments by July 31, 2012 to eqb@Victoria1.gov.bc.ca. Please state “Waste Diversion Calculator” in your subject line.
We look forward to hearing from you.
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