Council in support of new waste management plan

recycling

by Ashley Janes

Morinville – Town Council voted to support a regional approach to solid waste minimization during its Nov. 12 Regular Meeting. The Capital Region Integrated Waste Management Plan (CRIWMP) effectively ties together the existing solid waste minimization efforts of 25 individual municipalities, including the villages of Thorsby, Wabamun and Warburg; the towns of Beaumont, Bon Accord, Bruderheim, Calmar, Devon, Gibbons, Lamont, Legal, Morinville, Redwater, and Stony Plain; the cities of Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc, St. Albert, and Spruce Grove; and the counties of Leduc, Parkland, Strathcona, Sturgeon, and Lamont.

According to the CRIWMP, municipalities will benefit from increased opportunities for partnerships, economies of scale, and regional programs that will assist in achieving long range provincial waste minimization targets regarding Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The plan targets an overall 80% diversion in solid waste by the year 2032, meaning that less garbage is sent to the landfill and more of it is recycled or reused.

Councillor Rob Ladouceur is Morinville’s representative on the Roseridge Waste Management Commission Board, the current landfill operation for the communities of Morinville, Gibbons, Legal, Redwater, Bon Accord, and Sturgeon County. He explained that by gaining the support of municipalities within the larger capital region, the group will have the added ability to attract waste disposal companies to the smaller communities.

“I do believe that it has the potential to be a strong group if they develop policies that help manage the waste and create, not only future waste plans for the capital region, but also create diversion plans,” Ladouceur said, adding that the partnership could create specialized sites and reduce the amount of duplication in efforts that end up creating a less efficient system. “The cons at this point are the group’s infancy, the lack of funding and a lack of understanding of what the group really wants to accomplish.”

Although Ladouceur sits on the Roseridge Board, he is not yet required to attend the Capital Region Waste Minimization Advisory Committee (CRWMAC). That task will continue to be performed by Director of Public Works, Claude Valcourt until such a time when the input of Council is required.

“If (the committee) changes into policy driven, financial contributions, those sorts of things, that’s when we’ll ask for a council representative to come to the table and be part of the membership,” said Chief Administrative Officer, Debbie Oyarzun. “For right now, it is very technical and having that technical expertise at the table has allowed us to contribute to and kind of fine tune and refine what the plan actually means and what we’re capable of participating in.”

The full Capital Region Waste Minimization Plan can be downloaded from the Town website at www.morinville.ca.

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1 Comment

  1. I hope that our regional landfill does not become the landfill for all the CRB municipalities. I urge the council and administration to tread very carefully here.

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