Residents in Chase River and south Nanaimo could soon have a recycling centre close to home if a rezoning application gets the nod of approval from city council.
Paul Shorting, owner of the Regional Recycling depot on Hayes Road, wants to construct a new recycling cente on Old Victoria Road.
Shorting filed an application with the city in December to rezone a one-hectare parcel of land at 1044 and 1048 Old Victoria Rd. from single-fmily residential to high-tech industrial to permit the facility.
Shorting said the operation will be identical to the one currently on Hayes Road.
“It’s one-stop recycling for residential and small trades people,” Shorting said.
He said that this facility has nothing to do with a large commercial collection and processing facility proposed for Nanaimo when Green By Nature EPR was selected by Multi-Materials B.C. in February to manage a provincewide collection and recycling program. Green By Nature has, so far, not selected a site for its facility in Nanaimo.
“We’re totally different,” Shorting said. “Even though we’re part of MMBC, we’re not taking commercial loads. We’re not a processor.”
The new Regional Recycling facility will be purpose-built and more energy and operationally efficient than the old Laird Wheaton GMC Pontiac dealership building from which the company currently operates. The conceptual landscape plan for Regional Recycling’s new location calls for extensive landscaping that includes a bioswale, a landscape element designed to remove silt and pollution from rainwater, plus a fruit tree orchard.
“It’s a new facility with the latest green technology,” Shorting said. “We’re going to have all the LED lighting and the low-flush toilets because it’s a brand-new building. We’re trying to do everything green.”
The rezoning application goes before city council April 14 for first and second readings. A public hearing on the project will be scheduled following council’s decision.