British Columbia is proud to be one of the first provinces moving towards Zero Waste policies and of its reputation as a leader in sustainable environmental management.
The Honourable Mary Polak, BC Minister of the Environment recently recognized the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine (RDKS) and Sperling Hansen Associates (SHA) with an Environmental Stewardship Award.
The award honors the recently completed major upgrade to RDKS’s solid waste management capacity, as the region strives to divert more waste from landfill and reduce environmental impacts from existing landfills.
Going “above and beyond”
Morrison Hershfield was a proud member of this forward thinking team, who worked together to achieve design excellence, environmental protection innovation and waste diversion efficiency.
The team was praised by the Ministry for going “above and beyond” with regard to landfill siting, meaningful First Nations consultation, public engagement, design and construction of the facilities.
In fact, the Ministry stated that “the consultation, mitigation efforts, and community engagement are now pointed to as models for others to follow.”
State-of-the-art facilities
One of the key components of the new solid waste management system is a state-of-the-art compost facility. The system also includes a full-service transfer station for commercial haulers and self-hauls complete with automated scales, and a state-of-the-art landfill that exceeds requirements of the new landfill criteria.
Morrison Hershfield provided initial consultation on:
- Compost technology selection
- Design and construction services for the composting plant
- Analysis of organic waste quantities
- Detailed design of structures, electrical and mechanical systems
- Development of contract specifications
- Drawings for tender and construction
- Site inspections
This facility enables the RDKS to treat and recycle the single largest component of its waste stream.
A GORE™ COVER composting system was chosen after an extensive evaluation of available technical systems and the local waste stream and conditions. The design was enhanced with a cover-all style building for better protection from the heavy snow loads and cold temperatures, enabling year-round operation.
The chosen system fully meets BC’s Organic Matter Recycling Regulation and provides a high level of process control, odor containment and environmental protection at a lower cost than competing systems. It also provides cost-effective expansion options as organics quantities increase so that the compost system will remain a cornerstone of the RDKS waste management system well into the future.
