The Regional District of Nanaimo has approved recommendations to support a special committee on solid waste management.
At the regional district’s March 24 board meeting, directors approved motions to agree to terms of reference, appoint a representative and alternate, offer support for regional district facilities and support cost-sharing to pay for the work of the committee for the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities, an association of local governments of which the regional district is a member.
“This arises out of some work that we’ve done here on the Island with all the regional districts coming together in October of last year to have a bit of a roundtable and forum about solid waste and sharing of trials and tribulations of the various regional districts,” regional district CAO Paul Thorkelsson said at the meeting.
Among its duties, the committee is expected to develop a long-term strategy for solid waste management, report on its work at the 2016 association annual general meeting and also present a briefing to the province.
Alec McPherson, chairman of the regional district solid waste advisory committee, will be a representative and Jim Kipp, Nanaimo director, his alternate.
According to the regional district, the term of the committee runs from May 1 to the end of April 2016, although the association executive may consider extending the term on an annual basis.
“A committee like this, looking at waste across the Island, looking at a really comprehensive model is an important piece, including within our solid waste management plan. So we’re currently looking at how does the regional district deal with waste and this is kind of a larger picture.
“How does the Island deal with waste, so it’s a very timely and very important thing to be discussing,” said Daniel Pearce, regional district acting general manager of solid waste services.