Copyright (c) Christopher Elwell 2010
British Columbia is removing the city of Richmond’s Ecowaste landfill from the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), allowing the company to move forward with plans to build new recycling facility for housing construction and demolition (C&D) waste.
This removal will enable Ecowaste Industries, headquartered in Richmond, to continue to play an important role in the region’s construction waste disposal and recycling program.
Ecowaste says it plans to build a modern facility to recycle 65 percent of the waste it receives. This will support a sustainable circular economy that reduces waste and creates economic opportunity for British Columbians. The landfill’s approximately 395-acre footprint will not increase.
The site originally was harvested for peat in the 1940s and has been used as an industrial landfill, primarily for construction and demolition waste, with permission from the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC), since the 1980s. The site has no history of soil-based agriculture.
According to the company’s website, the site accepts a range of largely inert C&D material, yard waste and appliances.
Ecowaste must build and commence operations at the new recycling facility before Jan. 1, 2029. Ecowaste can now extend landfill operations until 2055, preventing it from having to begin shutdown procedures this year and providing long-term certainty to the company and the sectors that depend on it.
The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, which will continue to oversee and authorize the landfill under the Environmental Management Act, as well as the ALC, have been consulted and agree with the decision to remove the land from the ALR.
