If you've done renovations or cleared your basement of junk in a bout of spring cleaning, chances are you've been to Wastech.
But Wastech is no more in Coquitlam.
And that's just one of several changes in garbage disposal in the Tri-Cities.
NEW STATION
A new full-service transfer station for residential, commercial and municipal waste haulers will open in Coquitlam in 2019, replacing a 30-year-old facility at 1200 United Blvd. that is now under new management.
The new transfer station will cost $40 million and will be built by Metro Vancouver at 995 United Blvd., the site that, until last fall, was where Coquitlam residents dropped off construction materials, recycling and yard trimmings.
Metro Vancouver's general manager for solid waste services, Paul Henderson, said the project was approved last June and is currently in the design phase.
It is being built on the former Coquitlam landfill site and will contain a recycling centre and will meet meeting strict environmental and sustainability guidelines. Metro has also promised to engage neighbours on issues such as noise, smell and traffic.
But a report to the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District notes the property sits on a 30-hectare parcel, which should provide enough of a buffer.
NEW MANAGEMENT
People visiting the current Coquitlam transfer station — long known as Wastech, for the company that operated it — will notice it is under new management. The switch occurred Jan. 1, when Emterra Environmental began to operate the waste transfer facility and recycling centre while also taking over responsibility for the North Shore and Surrey transfer stations in a seven-year contract worth approximately $115.6 million.
"We would expect the experience for customers will be the same as it was under the previous contract," said Metro's Henderson, referring to Wastech Services, which operated the Coquitlam transfer station for 20 years.
A new weigh scale built for commercial haulers may reduce the wait for residential and small commercial users.
The change comes as the region's diversion rate — the amount of material removed from the garbage stream — grew to 62% in 2015, up from 61%. And while that hasn't yet reached the 70% target, it's still an accomplishment, Henderson said.
RECYCLING MORE
"We've seen less garbage requiring disposal," he added, noting that since peaking in 2006/’07, the amount of regional waste has dropped to 895,000 tonnes, down from 1.4 million tonnes, resulting in the elimination of hauling to Cache Creek for dumping. Regional garbage is now delivered to the Burnaby waste-to-energy plant or the Vancouver landfill.
As the region changes its waste habits, the Coquitlam transfer station property will be handed to the Beedie Group — which owns the property as part of its Fraser Mills project — in an agreement that requires Metro Vancouver to release the property by the end of 2019.
"The goal is to have the new transfer station in place by the time the agreement expires," Henderson said.
Still, for now, the Coquitlam transfer station is a key part of the region's waste system, handling 148,300 tonnes of waste in 150,656 loads in 2015.
WHERE TO GO
As for recycling, there is a facility in front of the weigh scales at the current transfer station that Coquitlam, Port Moody and Port Coquitlam residents can use for metal, paper, glass, electronics, paint and pesticides. That's because the three cities agreed to pay for the service, with Coquitlam paying $128,700, PoCo contributing $53,000 and Port Moody $30,800, for a total annual cost of $213,000.
Used drywall is not accepted but may be later this spring if a pilot program for bagging the materials running at the Maple Ridge and Langley transfer stations is successful.
• With the takeover of the Coquitlam Transfer Station by Emterra Environmental, all information about the Coquitlam waste transfer facility, including hours of operations and fees, is available on the Metro Vancouver website
