Garbage and Recycling OLD
Bylaw, Plans & Strategies
Solid Waste Regulation Bylaws
A bylaw for the purpose of establishing a service area, regulations and fees for the disposal of Solid Waste (garbage) and recyclable material within the Peace River Regional District.
- Solid Waste Regulation and Fees Bylaw No. 2065, 2013
- Consolidated – Regional Solid Waste Management Local Service Area Establishment Bylaw No. 1044, 1996
For fees and charges for the Grain Bag Roller Rental, please refer to Finance-Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 2483, 2022
Regional Solid Waste Management Plan (RSWMP)
Regional Solid Waste Management Plan – Updated 2021
In 2019 the PRRD began working on updating the RSWMP, this process took two years and ended when the PRRD submitted the final version of the new plan on July 19, 2021 for Ministry approval. The Plan was approved by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy on October 5, 2022. The plan addresses three key areas:
- Greater efficiency of programs and services
- Greater focus on reducing, reusing, and recycling to protect our environment
- Greater focus on sustainable management to protect future generations
For more information about the latest updates to the Regional Solid Waste Management plan and how we got here, visit the project page on Have Your Say.
Waste Composition Audit
The Peace River Regional District completed a year-long waste composition at all three regional landfills between Spring of 2017 and Winter 2018. Four Season Report.
Grain Bags & Twine
Bags of twine and rolled and secured grain bags are now collected at the following landfills and transfer stations:
- Rolla Transfer Station
- Buick Creek Transfer Station
- Cecil Lake Transfer Station
- Tomslake Transfer Station
- Prespatou Transfer Station
- Bessborough Landfill
- Chetwynd Landfill
- North Peace Regional Landfill
Fill out the contact form to access the PRRD grain bag roller.
Recycling
Depot recycling
Find a Recycle BC depot
Find a Recycle-It Resource Recovery depot
The Peace River Regional District offers depot recycling through Recycle-It Resource Recovery and Recycle BC to provide services to the entire region. The depots allow residents to drop off a variety of materials for free, and most depots accept all our materials including paper, packaging, cardboard boxes, plastic containers, metal containers, cartons and paper cups, non-deposit glass bottles and jars, foam packaging, and flexible plastics. Please review the guide below for accepted materials.
Flexible plastics, foam packaging (e.g. Styrofoam) and non-deposit glass (in communities without separated curbside glass collection) can only be returned to a depot for recycling.
More items now accepted through RecycleBC
As of January 1, 2023 single-use and packaging-like products can now be recycled from home or depot through RecycleBC’s residential packaging and paper recycling program.
The items outlined in the below guide can be recycled with containers, paper or at the depot. Please continue to rinse your containers and soft plastics before recycling.
Find a participating depot
Learn more about the new recycling items
Where does my recycling go?
We get asked this question a lot. All material from the PRRD is shipped out via backhaul, filling up trucks that would be heading south empty otherwise. Click through the slideshow below to learn more!
Information provided by Recycle-It Resource Recovery based on materials they process on behalf of the PRRD.
Residential & Commercial Fees
Seasonal cleanup
Fees for solid waste, recycling and other materials are based on weight or volume depending on the site you are visiting. Cash, debit, Mastercard and Visa are accepted at our landfills and transfer stations. Tipping fees for self-hauled, sorted waste that is brought to any of the PRRD landfills and transfer stations are waived from June 6 to June 19 and October 3 to 16 for seasonal cleanup.
Sorting saves you money
Your waste disposal charge will fluctuate depending on the amount of recyclable materials you remove and recycle before visiting the landfill. This activity is referred to as waste diversion. When waste is diverted away from the landfill into streams that convert would-be waste into repurposed or recycled materials, it eases the burden on existing landfills and extends their usable life.
To encourage customers to sort out recyclable and prohibited materials, fees increased in March 2022 for unsorted/mixed waste by 76% and 5% for sorted waste.
For money-saving waste diversion tips please review these materials:
Commercial waste diversion
Residential waste diversion
Weight-based fees (in effect March 1, 2022)
Applies to the following sites with scales:
- Bessborough
- Chetwynd
- Dawson Creek transfer station
- North Peace Regional landfill
- Prespatou transfer station
*REGULAR WASTE (charged by the tonne unless noted) | ||
Waste Type | Residential Fees | Commercial Fees |
Minimum Fee | $3.75 | $4.00 |
(5) Garbage bags or less | $0.80/bag | $1.00/bag |
Sorted household & commercial | $55.00 | $60.00 |
Metal | $55.00 | $60.00 |
Wood | $55.00 | $60.00 |
Domestic animal carcasses | $55.00 | $60.00 |
Tires (light-duty, no rims) | $55.00 | $60.00 |
Unsorted regular waste | $110.00 | $200.00 |
All other regular waste | $55.00 | $60.00 |
*Receipts must be issued, ask the attendant for additional information. All cash transactions will be rounded to the nearest $0.05 |
CONTROLLED WASTE (charged by the tonne unless noted) | ||
Waste Type | Residential Fees | Commercial Fees |
Minimum Fee | $10.00 | $11.00 |
Household appliances | $55.00 | $60.00 |
Concrete (>15cm piece size, no soil or gravel) |
$55.00 | $60.00 |
Clean uncrushed steel & plastic drums (lids removed) | $55.00 +$3.50/drum |
$60.00 +$3.50/drum |
Tires (medium-duty, no rims) | $55.00 | $60.00 |
Tires (industrial-duty, no rims) | $55.00 | $60.00 |
Mixed demolition, land clearing & construction | $110.00 | $200.00 |
Stripped vehicles | $110.00 | $120.00 |
Unstripped vehicles | $110.00 +$170.00/vehicle |
$120.00 |
Clean Soil | $5.00 | NO CHARGE |
Contaminated soil | $5.00 | $5.25 |
Concrete rubble (>15cm piece size) | NO CHARGE | NO CHARGE |
Unsorted controlled waste | $110.00 | $200.00 |
All other controlled waste | $110.00 | $120.00 |
RESTRICTED WASTE (charged by the tonne unless noted) | ||
Waste Type | Residential Fees | Commercial Fees |
Minimum Fee | $22.00 | $24.00 |
Specified risk material (as identified by CFIA, permit required) |
$125.00 | $135.00 |
Wildlife & livestock animal carcasses | $125.00 | $135.00 |
Loads containing >10% old corrugated cardboard | $250.00 | $450.00 |
Lead acid batteries | $55.00 | $60.00 |
Asbestos | $150.00 | $163.00 |
Unsorted restricted waste | $150.00 | $272.00 |
All other restricted waste | $150.00 | $163.00 |
Volume-based fees
Applied to the following sites without scales:
- Buick Creek
- Cecil Lake
- Goodlow
- Moberly Lake
- Rolla, Rose Prairie
- Tomslake
- Kelly Lake
- Wonowon
- Pink Mountain
- Upper Halfway
Oil and Gas Notice – Prohibited Waste
Apply for a landfill account
Apply for a landfill account by filling out the Commercial Solid Waste Credit Application and calling 1-800-670-7773.
Seasonal cleanup
All tipping fees for PRRD landfills and transfer stations are waived for the following seasonal cleanup campaigns:
Spring Cleanup
June 5 to June 18, 2023
Fall Cleanup
October 2 to October 15, 2023
Cleanup (landfill) coupons
Each residence in the Peace River Regional District is entitled to cleanup coupons that are valid from May 1 to April 30 each year. If you have not already received your coupon validation number in the mail by mid-May, you may contact the Regional District to request your coupon. Present your coupon validation number at any of the PRRD’s landfills or transfer stations to access four computer coupons. Each computer coupon value is equal to $13.75 and entitles disposal of up to 250 KG or 2 m3 of eligible, sorted, residential waste.
Accepted items for seasonal cleanup
*All waste for seasonal cleanup must be self-hauled; commercial drop-offs and other such arrangements are not permitted.
Stewardship
A stewardship program requires manufacturers of certain consumer products to take financial and environmental responsibility for the end of life management of certain products, including the below items:
- Tires
- Paint, Pesticides, Light Bulbs, etc.
- Used Oil and Anti-freeze
- Printed Paper and Packaging
- Drink Containers
- Electronics
- Electronic Stewardship Association of BC
- Small Electric Appliances and Electrical Power Tools
- Large Appliances
- Outdoor Power Equipment
- Electric Toys
- Cellphones
- Lamps and Fixtures
- Small Batteries
- Lead-Acid Batteries
- Pharmaceuticals
For other items not listed, check out the Recycling Council of BC.
Provincial Stewardship Programs
There are numerous provincial stewardship programs that have been developed to take back a variety of items to be recycled, reused, and disposed of the green way!
FAQs
Click question to expand
Impacted Soils
Where do I take impacted soil?
Impacted soils are accepted at the following landfills
- Bessborough
- Chetwynd
- North Peace
What is considered “impacted” soil?
Where do I take clean soil?
Landfills
How many landfills are there in the Peace River Regional District?
Who operates the landfills?
How much does it cost to operate a landfill?
How do I apply for a landfill account??
Why does it cost $15 for a printout receipt?
Why does the region need a Landfill Gas (LFG) system?
Landfills operate under the authority of a Waste Management Permit that is issued by the Ministry of Environment (MOE). In 2009, the MOE enacted the Landfill Gas Management Regulation to support the local government’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) by at least 33% below the current levels by 2020. Within this Regulation, province-wide criteria were established for landfill gas capture from municipal solid waste landfills. Under this Regulation, the PRRD was required to conduct a gas generation assessment of the North Peace Regional Landfill to determine if a gas management facility needed to be installed at the site. The PRRD conducted the assessment; it was revealed that the landfill exceeds the 1000 tonnes/year regulatory threshold for methane production, requiring the installation of a gas management system by the year 2012.In December 2014, the LFG System at the North Peace Regional Landfill was commissioned and began operating in March of 2015. This project took several years to complete and the cost was offset by funding opportunities through the Federal Gas Tax Fund. The initial LFG system consisted of several horizontal wells that were buried within the older waste.
In 2018, the LFG system was expanded in “fresher” waste within Phase 2 of the landfill, where 7 vertical wells were installed and tied into the existing system.
The LFG system will be expanded again with Phase 2 where more vertical wells will be installed within the waste.
Transfer Stations
How many transfer stations are in the Peace River Regional District?
How much does it cost to build a transfer station?
How much does it cost to operate a transfer station?
Why are the Rural Transfer Stations only open 26 hours instead of 30?
How much money does Secure Energy get to operate the Rural Transfer Stations?
Who operates the share shed?
Will the attendant help unload material from my vehicle?
What type of transfer stations are left to be constructed and where?
What is the difference between a Tier 1 and Tier 2 Transfer Station?
The following chart shows what each transfer stations offer:
Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
Share Shed | |
Household Garbage | |
Recycling – Recycle BC Program of Printed Paper and Packaging | |
Bulky Waste | |
Metal | |
Wood Waste | |
Tires | |
Plaint Plus (Only at Prespatou Transfer Station) | |
Electronics Recycling (Pilot at Wonowon, Prespatou, and Tomslake Transfer Stations. |
Are Landfills and Transfer Stations open on holidays?
The lights at the sites are always on, who do I contact when this happens?
Illegal Dumping
How is illegal dumping reported/managed?
What happens to the person who illegally dumps waste?
Coupons
I didn’t get my coupons, how do I get them?
Can I pick up my neighbours/friends coupons for them?
Waste Disposal
How much money does it cost per kilo to process the waste?
Why is there an additional fee for some materials (tires, batteries, etc.) at the Peace River Regional District sites, while there are places in town that takes them for free and gives you money?
Can a community hall get a waiver for tipping fees for events and activities held?
When do the bulky bins arrive at the Tier 2 Transfer Stations?
Why can’t we have the bulky bins during a different time of year or something, instead of seeding and harvesting?
The simple fact is that there is no “good time” for putting out these bins. The process for getting bids for available contractors to provide the best price take time and has to be planned well in advance. Setting the bins out in May and October long weekends offers consistency in that people can plan their bigger clean-up projects around these times more easily.
For 2020 the PRRD will be piloting the 2020 Spring Clean-Up later in the spring and for the 2020 Fall Clean-Up the bins will arrive earlier in October. For 2020 Spring Clean-Up will occur the first two weeks of June – June 1 to June 14, 2020. For the Fall 2020 Clean-Up will occur the first two weeks of October – October 5 to October 18, 2020.
Recycling
Who gets the money for the recycling collected at the rural transfer stations?
Who is Recycle BC?
Who gets the money for recycling at the landfills?
Why do “we” pay for recycling?
If recycling has value, why doesn’t the value cover the cost of service?
How is household recycling, collected at the transfer stations and sites?
Rural Transfer Stations: Household recycling collected through the Recycle BC program is hauled two different ways. 1. The big bins (50 and 40 yard bins) are hauled by the transfer station contractor. 2. The mega bags are hauled by a third party contractor that Recycle BC manages.
Recycling Depots: Recycling is collected in various totes. The recycling contractor collects that materials from the bins and empties them into a truck with three compartments. The front compartment is where the glass is deposited. The second compartment is where the hard plastic and tin are deposited. Separately, the loosely collected plastic film is placed in large bags. These large bags make it easy to separate from the hard plastic once the material is deposited on the floor at the recycle centre. The last compartment is where the paper goes. Cardboard is collected via a third party contractor from the cardboard bins.
What are the different streams of recycling?
Depending where you recycle there are different items and materials that can be recycled. This is because there are two different recycling programs operated in the RD. At the Rural Transfer Stations, household printed paper and packaging material are collected, processed, and marketed by Recycle BC for recycling. If you recycle in town (curbside or depot) or use one of the unattended recycling depots (Mile 54, No Frills, etc.) then that material is collected, processed, and marketed by the Regional District Recycling Contractor. The following images provides an example:
What happens to:
Mixed Paper
Cardboard
Containers
Styrofoam
Metals
Glass
Commingled Curbside
Don’t see your question? Contact environmental services