District staff expects heated debate on Wednesday (April 25) when they discuss options on the future of garbage disposal in the district - options which include a possible garbage incinerator.
"We have to look at all the possibilities available to us, and a garbage incinerator is definitely one of them," said Gord Prescott, operations manager for the district.
Prescott will host a public meeting Wednesday (April 25) at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers to discuss how to handle Squamish's future waste output.
"An incinerator would be a way to handle it," said Prescott. "The technology has changed and if one was used it would be very different technology than what people may think of. The incinerators of today are used also for power generation."
As with all the possible options, Prescott is not yet sure where an incinerator could potentially be located, but it could elsewhere than the long-proposed Cheekye Fan site.
"I do know it won't be downtown," he laughed.
The discussion is being held because the district's current landfill only has approximately one and half year's left in its available use. After that time, other arrangements will have to be made.
Other options that will be discussed are shipping the waste out of the area, possibly to Washington State, or building a new landfill in the Cheekye Fan area or another location.
"Shipping has its benefits and downsides. It's not cheap," said Prescott.
Landfills also have cost downsides, with intricate infrastructure needed in place.
"We need to have this discussion now because each of these options will take time to put in place."
It would take between 12 to 18 months to get a garbage incinerator in place, and approximately a year to get a new landfill operational. Shipping waste away would take the least time to organize but it would still take about half a year to properly negotiate transportation arrangements.
Prescott said he hopes that whatever the new system will be, that it will incorporate greater use of recycling programs and composting options.
"Of course we'd like to see the amount of waste we have reduced to zero, but that's not going to happen," he said.
The district points to programs like the elimination of plastic shopping bags from the garbage system (see related story page A5) as one way that our waste production could be decreased.
"The more we compost, or recycle, or just don't use, the less we put into waste disposal and the cheaper it is in the long run," said Prescott.
"But we will still have garbage and we have to do something with it. Maybe when we look at it we'll see that a garbage incinerator is the best option."
