The Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine is proceeding with developing a new policy that will require larger industrial and commercial waste generators to pay more when disposing of their waste at regional facilities.
At a recent board meeting, the directors voted in favor of a motion that will see the district’s staff include the Major Waste Producers policy in the upcoming updates to the district’s solid waste bylaws.
The move comes at a time when the region has experienced a substantial increase in the amount of waste being disposed of at the region’s landfills, driven by industrial activity in the region over the past few years.
According to the regional district, solid waste facilities were originally designed to handle waste volumes generated from residents and small commercial generators; however, the amount of waste being disposed of at the facilities has been significantly increased by the industrial projects.
The Forceman Ridge Waste Management Facility, which is the largest landfill site in the region, was meant to handle 12,000 tonnes of airspace-demanding waste every year. In 2024 and 2025, the facility handled an unexpected 6,500 tonnes of unplanned industrial waste, which is expected to increase the pressure on landfill sites.
The Forceman Ridge Waste Management Facility is currently the only facility in the region that is big enough to handle large quantities of waste, which means that all major quantities of industrial waste end up there.
The new policy that is being put forward will have a tiered surcharge system for what is considered to be “major waste producers” by the regional district. This is considered to be. These are userswho generate large quantities of waste at RDKS sites throughout the calendar year.
Under the framework, once a waste generator has generated 100 tonnes of waste, they will be charged a 50 per cent surcharge on all other waste that they generate.
At 250 tonnes, the surcharge would rise to 100 per cent.
At 500 tonnes, the surcharge would increase to 150 per cent.
At 1,000 tonnes, the surcharge would rise to 200 per cent.
Once a waste generator exceeds 2,000 tonnes in a year, the surcharge would reach 300 per cent on additional waste.
These charges would apply regardless of whether the waste is from inside the service area or outside. However, out-of-service users would still have to pay the additional surcharges that have been required under the existing regional solid waste bylaws.
According to the regional district staff, the new policy aims at ensuring that the large waste producers are paying their fair share of the costs that arise from the landfill operations.
The regional district’s Solid Waste Management Plan includes a commitment to develop policies regarding large waste volumes and out-of-service waste. This new approach will expand this focus to include any large waste producer, as opposed to waste from outside the service area.
The new policy aims at ensuring that the residents are not paying for the costs that arise from the large industrial projects. At the same time, the new policy aims at ensuring that the residents maintain good habits regarding the management of their waste, especially considering the fact that the region is still developing.
The new policy would apply to the waste that is disposed of at the Forceman Ridge Waste Management Facility, Hazelton Waste Management Facility, Meziadin Landfill, and Iskut Landfill.
In addition to surcharges, the policy will also provide the ability for the regional district to require waste management plans from industrial or construction projects that will generate over 100 tonnes of waste annually.
The policy will, according to staff, provide the regional district with further powers to manage how and when large waste loads are delivered. This will include the ability to schedule waste deliveries or divert waste to other facilities.
The implementation of the policy will generate new revenues for the service area, and it will have minimal costs to implement.
The changes to the bylaw will now be drafted by staff, and then the policy will be referred back to the board for final approval.
