The CSRD has received a $100,000 for a composting facility in Revelstoke.
They applied for funding in May from the Organics Infrastructure Program which is a partnership between the province, the federal government and municipal governments.
In total $30 million was awarded to 12 projects in B.C.
“Investing in better infrastructure for waste management will divert organic waste from municipal landfills and turn it into clean and useful compost,” said Jonathan Wilkinson, federal minister of environment and climate change, in a news release. “Initiatives such as this one are key to fighting climate change and helping us reach net-zero emissions by 2050. I congratulate the Province of British Columbia for its leadership in this effort.”
The Organics Infrastructure Program combines $10 million in federal funding from the Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund, $10 million from the Province and $10 million in matching funds from local government applicants and their partners.
READ MORE: CSRD makes landfill changes required by the environmental protection division
Among the projects are two from the Central Kootenay Regional District — Central landfill composting facility and the Creston landfill composting facility — that, together, provide the region with food-waste processing capacity for the first time.
Another recipient is the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality’s worm composting facility. It will divert organic waste from Fort Nelson’s landfill and create high-quality soil.
“These new projects will improve organics diversion across the province,” said Maja Tait, president, Union of B.C. Municipalities, in a news release. “The result will be reduced GHG emissions from landfills, moving the needle forward in the attainment of CleanBC goals. I am very appreciative of the continuing support provided by the federal and provincial governments to expand organics infrastructure in B.C. communities.”
According to the news release from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, organic waste currently represents 40 per cent of material sent to municipal landfills in B.C. and generates 7.5 per cent of the province’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In total, the projects are expected to reduce nearly 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent over the next decade. This is like removing more than 100,000 cars from the roads for a year.
The projects will help to meet it’s CleanBC commitment to help communities achieve 95 per cent organic waste diversion for agricultural, industrial and municipal waste.
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“This program will help communities, the Province and Canada meet our shared climate action goals,” said George Heyman, B.C.’s minister of environment and climate change strategy, in a news release. “It will also help build B.C.’s clean economy by creating green jobs and setting the stage for the economic opportunities that come from the reuse of organic materials.”
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