Working Together to Rethink Waste
The CRD has developed a new management plan to reduce how much material is sent to Hartland Landfill and guide how the region's solid waste is managed in a safe, secure and sustainable way now and in the future.
The final plan includes strategies and actions for reducing and managing all streams of solid waste—including recyclables, compostable material and garbage—with an eye to extending the life of Hartland Landfill to 2100 and beyond.
Following CRD Board approval in May 2021, this plan was approved by the Province of BC in July 2023.
Staff are currently implementing strategies and actions related to targeted material stream diversion, multi-family and industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) waste, municipal collaboration and technology research.
Actions currently underway include modifying the tipping fee structure to incent diversion, expanding landfill material bans for streams where viable alternatives exist, facilitating the diversion of material and energy recovery of specific material and expanding regulatory enforcement where required.
What's New
Multi-family refers to waste generated by residential housing that is not considered single-family. ICI refers to waste generated through industrial, commercial and institutional sectors. Collectively, these two sectors generate approximately 53% of the solid waste received annually at Hartland Landfill.
Much of the CRD’s historical efforts and successes in diverting 43% of materials from the waste stream over the previous decades have been realized through an early focus on the single-family sector with the residential blue box collection program.
Opportunity exists to enhance diversion activities and programming to the ICI and multi-family sectors. This focus area was also identified as a priority by municipalities during the plan’s consultation phase. Staff are currently working to develop an ICI/multi-family sector specific strategy.
Investigating the feasibility of emerging waste management technologies is a key strategy of the region’s new solid waste management plan aimed at reducing the region’s waste per capita rate by more than 30 per cent to 250 kg/year in the next 10 years.
In spring 2022, the CRD Board approved next steps for a pilot program that will evaluate potential thermal resource recovery options for some construction waste materials received at Hartland Landfill.
What's New
Commercial Traffic Access
The disposal of solid waste at the Hartland Landfill has taken place in Phase 2, cells 1, 2 and 3, since 1997. Following the master filling plan for the overall site, cell 3 is projected to be full in the next two years and operations will move to the north end of the site to start placement of solid waste in the bottom of cell 4. The characteristics of the site dictate that commercial traffic must then enter the landfill from the north, utilizing Willis Point Road via the north entrance.
The north entrance has always been a secondary access to the site, and in recent years has been the primary access for the Residuals Treatment Facility. As the landfilling process moves to the new cell on the north side, commercial vehicle access will permanently change to the north entrance starting in late 2024 or early 2025.
This change in traffic patterns has been analyzed though two engineering reports, one focused on traffic volumes and road characteristics, the other focused on the surrounding intersections, while also considering greenhouse gas emissions.
Based on community feedback, in May 2021 the Board directed staff to prepare a package of Hartland-area road access mitigation options costing up to $4 million that will be funded by the CRD’s Environmental Resource Management service, review these options with District of Saanich staff and area residents, and return to the CRD Board for direction.
In October 2022, following a community consultation process, the CRD Board reviewed the options and approved funding for the proposed works to a maximum of $4 million. The Board also directed staff to work with the District of Saanich to finalize the intersection improvements and respond to any remaining concerns raised by the community.
Project Resources